The Bartender
by LauraADon
Summary: Brittany is a bartender. What happens when a dark haired mystery woman comes into the bar that she works at? What happens when the woman returns again and again? AU. Rated M for language and later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Pen Pal

I had a pen pal when I was younger. It was super cool. The pen pal program was set up through my school. My whole class would write letters and the teacher would gather them up and mail them for us. The letters were all sent to another class at another school in another city.

So one day every couple of weeks the class would sit down and write to our respective pen pal. My pen pal's name was Jenny. She seemed really cool and she lived on a farm. She would write all about her farm and all of the animals and everything that happened there. She even sent a picture of a newborn calf with one of her letter one time. It was the cutest thing ever.

I mostly just wrote about my cat Lord Tubbington and my baby sister and the fort my dad built for me in the back yard. I even sent her a picture of Lord Tubbington with my sister in her car seat inside the fort. I may or may not have gotten into trouble for that. My mom didn't think it was cute but I did.

We were in the forth grade and at the end of the school year we got to go on a field trip to meet our pen pals. That was really awesome but then the year ended and we went to fifth grade and no more pen pal.

I guess I could have found out Jenny's address and kept writing to her about my life but I guess my 10 year old self never thought of that.

Some days I wish I still had a pen pal. Just someone to write to and tell about my day. But no one really sends letters anymore except for old people. I guess that's why I have a journal though. Instead of writing to a pen pal I write in my journal now. It's not the same but it works.

If I still had a pen pal I would write to them about what happened today because I think it was probably the best part of my week so far. It's Friday and week's almost over so it will probably end up being the best part of the week. Definitely the most interesting part.

_xxxxx-earlier in the night-xxxxx_

I was at work. My parents own a bar/restaurant and I work there. It's nothing fancy but it's what I do. The pay is good and I can pretty much do whatever I want considering that my parents own the place. I don't abuse that power though.

I've work there since I was legal. Fourteen to work in the kitchen and eighteen to work at the bar. It's basically been my whole life. I love it. I get to meet so many interesting people. And then there's the regulars. Most of whom are like extended family. I've known them most of my life.

I've been bartending for a little over three years now. Since I turned eighteen and got my bartender's license. Friday nights are both my favorite and least favorite night to work. It's always crazy busy which is great for getting tips but leaves me flustered because I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off. There isn't any time to stop and take a breather but it's fun at the same time. It's hard to explain. It's like a rush of adrenaline that lasts all night.

On Friday's it's more of a younger crowd. The regulars are all gone by six or seven pm. I see a lot of new faces on Friday nights. I also serve a lot of people that I have never seen before and a lot of times will never see again. That's just how Friday nights go.

I'm good with faces. When someone comes to the bar once and they sit there for more than five minutes I can usually recognize them if I see them again. I might not know or remember their name but I know that I have seen them before.

Sugar and I are working the bar and my mom and dad are in charge of the customers in the dinning area. I had just wiped down the bar in front of me after a man had just left. He left me a measly $1.25 for a tip. I just hope he wasn't some rich snob that could afford to leave a bigger tip than he did. Then again he had on a sweatshirt and jeans so he probably wasn't rich.

I finished wiping down the bar just as the bar stool was pulled out and I looked up to gauge my next customer. A woman no more than 24 or 25 sat down on the stool. She had a deep scowl on her face. Possibly angry. Not my favorite kind of customer.

I throw the towel over my shoulder. "What can I get for you?" I ask the woman.

She looks up and narrows her eyes at me. She looks even more angry than she had a second ago. I didn't know if I should say something about it. I was just doing my job after all I had no intention of making her even angrier.

She looks down the length of the bar. We are at one end and can see everyone else saddled up to it. "Something strong. Very strong." She grumbles in a dark, deep, irritated voice.

Whenever someone asks for something strong I have a few go to drinks that I serve. Something with vodka or whiskey or something equally strong usually fits the bill. This woman didn't really look like a whiskey person so vodka it is.

I whip up the drink and set it on the bar for her. She takes it without a word and takes a generous drink. These types of customers are the hardest. They don't really want to talk. They don't want anything to do with anyone else in the bar. They just want to sit and drink. But that's never stopped me before and it's not going to stop me now.

"Rough day?" I start out asking. Usually when someone comes in grumpy or angry it's because they are having a shit day.

"Something like that." She mumbles. Short and to the point.

"Work?" Is my next question.

She shakes her head. So not work. The next question I usually ask is if it's about a relationship but with the hard look this woman is giving me I didn't want to ask it.

I venture over to another customer and get him another beer before returning to the dark-haired woman. She still looks like she is about to throw the glass in her hand at the wall. I look down to her drink. Nearly empty. Damn that was fast. She hasn't been here more than five minutes.

"Another?" I nod at her drink.

She slides the glass across the bar and nods. "Keep them coming." She grumbles. I look over the woman. Her dark hair falling over her shoulders and her hands clasped tightly together on the top of the bar.

"Alrighty then." I make her another vodka and coke. At the very least I know she likes the drink I chose. I slide the glass back to her when I'm finished. "So." I place my hands on my hips. It gets her attention and she follows me with her eyes while I lean back against the counter behind me. "Relationship troubles then?"

She scrunches her face up. It's kinda cute actually. She could be kinda cute if she didn't have that damn scowl on her face. "Not really."

"Family?" I venture.

"I don't want to talk about it. I just want to drink." She tells me. I nod. Okay. So probably something to do with her family but she doesn't want to talk about it. Which means it's probably a touchy subject.

You learn a lot about people when you are a bartender. You learn about all the little things that most people miss. You know how to handle just about any situation. People are very diverse and come in with a range of emotions and you have to be careful to not push the wrong buttons. It's like a huge lesson in psychology and how people tick.

"How's the drink?" I ask. I need to try and start with something new but don't quite now how to go about it. This one's a going to be a tough cookie. Gotta stay away from the personal stuff.

She nods. "Great."

"Woman of few words, I see." I tease. It doesn't work. She narrows her eyes at me again.

"Not really interested in talking to you. No offense." She takes another gulp of her drink.

"None taken." A send her a smile before I push off the counter and head in Sugar's direction.

"Hey, Sug. Anything interesting going on down here? That woman over there is killin me. She's grumpy or maybe angry." I rest my chin on her shoulder as I speak. It might be weird to any outsider but Sugar and I have been friends since her freshman year of high school my sophomore year.

"Not really." She shrugs and my chin falls off of her shoulder.

It's still fairly early for a Friday night. Like 9:30 or something. Only four and a half hours til closing time. "Okay." I mumble. I was hoping for some good gossip or something. I stand up straight and head back to the other end of the bar. On the way I refill two customer's drinks before getting back to the grumpy woman. I should probably ask her name before I accidentally call her grumpy woman.

I see her empty glass. "Another?" She nods. "May I ask your name? I've never seen you in here before." I say as I make her third drink.

"I've never been here before. So yeah." She shrugs but doesn't give me a name. "Thanks." She says as a hand her drink to her.

"No problem." I smile at her again hoping she will smile back or at least quit glaring angrily.

After her fourth drink and another failed attempt at a conversation I turn my attention to the television up in the corner that she has been staring at most of the time she has been here. I have a feeling that she isn't watching it though. There's a basketball game on. I could talk to one of the other customers at the bar but most of them are here with friends or family and I don't want to intrude. So, every few minutes, I look away from the tv to see if they need refills.

A little after 11 Sugar comes by and smacks me on the ass. "Gotta empty the tank." She giggles. "Watch the bar." I turn around from the tv to scan the bar. I check the mystery grumpy woman and she is eyeing me curiously. At least it's not that damn scowl.

"What?" I ask.

I think I startled her or something. She nearly jumps out of her seat. "Nothing." Her eyes shift to the side in the same direction that Sugar had gone. Interesting. I can see the wheels turning in her head. She definitely saw Sugar smack me on the ass.

Someone flags me down at the other end and I walk over to them. Sugar returns after a couple of minutes and I return to my end of the bar. I ask the mystery grump if she wants another drink and she nods. That's number six. I like to keep count. Especially when someone is sitting at the bar alone. It's just a weird protective thing that I do.

Sometime during number six she mumbles something about the bathroom and gets up off her bar stool and I watch as she stumbles a little towards the restroom.

I serve number seven shortly after midnight. I know because my parents always leave at midnight on Friday nights. The kitchen closes at ten and then they clean it and then they hang around until midnight before going home for the night. They have to be up in the morning to open the place for ten am.

I probably shouldn't serve this woman any more drinks. She is long past drunk at this point. I should also ask her how she is getting home.

It's starting to slow down. More and more patrons are leaving for home or another bar or whatever it is that they go. I look at the clock. 12:37. And then look to the dark-haired woman. I really look at her. Now that the bar has quieted down I pay a little more attention to her.

Her dark hair and dark eyes. It's dimly lit in the bar but I can tell that she has a dark complexion. She's dressed fairly simply. A long sleeve shirt and black jeans. And it works for her too. I'm not gonna lie she's a very attractive woman.

She catches me looking and I quickly look away. She doesn't really do anything about it though. Or maybe she can't in her drunk haze. Maybe she didn't even realize I was, more or less, checking her out. I glance back to see her looking at the tv again. I dodged a bullet there.

"How long you going stay here?" I ask her. I cross my arm over my chest and take a step so that I am standing directly in front of her, just the bar in between us.

She shrugs. "What time's it?" She slurs out.

A little giggles escapes my lips. I slap my hand over my mouth quickly but it's too late. She heard it. She attempts to narrow her eyes at me but it just looks like she is constipated or something. I giggle a little more. She's cute.

"What?" She asks.

I shake my head and control my giggles. I look at the clock again. "It's 12:43. How are you getting home?"

She shrugs again. "I drove here so-" I hiccup slips out of her and I have to pinch myself in the arm so I don't laugh at her. She waves her hand in front of herself and then points to her empty glass. "Another, Miss Bartender." She slurs.

"I don't think you should have anymore. And my name is Brittany." I take the glass from in front of the woman but have no intention of refilling it.

"Why not?" She slams her palms into the bar top. "I'm not drunk." But her actions prove that she is.

"Yes. You are. So I am going to ask you one more time. How are you getting home tonight?" She scrunches her face up again in thought, I assume. "You can't drive. I won't let you."

"You won't let me." Her voice is louder now than it had been at any point tonight. "You're not the boss of me." She balls up her fists on the top of the bar. I can see that I am making her angry and need to diffuse the situation before it escalates.

"No. I'm not. But, I don't need a guilty conscious. So, how are you getting home?" Sometimes dealing with drunks isn't fun. Everybody's different and you never know what you are going to get or what could happen. It keeps me on my toes. I huff out a frustrated breath and turn to reach for the phone.

"How are _you_ getting home, Miss Bartender?" I stop and turn back to the dark-haired woman. She is looking at me expectantly. Her head cocked to the side waiting for an answer.

It's an odd question to ask but I don't have a problem answering it. It's simple. "I'm walking. I just live next door." I probably shouldn't reveal that information to strangers but this woman doesn't seem like she would stalk me or break into my house or attack me and she probably won't even remember this in the morning.

A weird little noise is the only response she gives me. It's between a hum and a groan, I think. I'm watching her watch me. Something strange passes between us. Like a silent conversation or maybe a silent understanding.

I shake my head to clear my thoughts. "I'll call you a cab." I say and turn to grab the phone and dial the number for the local cab company.

After I finish the call I turn and she is looking at me. I raise an eyebrow. "I called a cab, it should be here in ten." I inform the woman. She just keeps looking at me. I wouldn't call it staring but her focus is definitely on me. She smiles after a few seconds. If you could call it a smile. The corners of her lips twitch upwards a little. Her lips don't part and there are no teeth showing but compared to that damn scowl that's been on her face all night this is an improvement.

"Tanks." She slurs out. I smile at her. I take my towel and start wiping down the bar. There are only a few customers left and I want to get out of here as soon as possible. I can do a few clean up things as long as I don't bother anyone.

A few minutes pass and I have the bar mostly cleaned off- where no one is sitting that is. "You missed a spot." I hear it from my right. I look up and the grumpy drunk woman is looking at me. I guess she isn't so grumpy anymore. It's probably the alcohol and she doesn't remember that she had a shity day.

I walk over to her. "Pardon?"

"You missed a spot." She drops her head and stares down at the bar top directly in front of her.

I'm smiling again because that was just too funny. I take my towel and wipe over the spot in front of her. "Better?"

She leans forward until her nose is only about an inch from the top of the bar and inspects it and then nods. "Yep." She slowly picks her head up to look at me. Her eyes are all glassed over and I don't even know if she can see straight at this point.

I hear a car horn. "You're cab's here." She looks to her right and then to her left and then stands up off of her bar stool. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a bunch of one dollar bills. She throws them on the bar and turns away from me. She wobbles and throws her hands out to her sides for balance. She takes a step and nearly crashes into the wall.

The next thing I know I have my arms under her armpits holding her up. I sprinted around the end of the bar to her in a flash. She is facing me and looking up at me and- "You're eyes are really blue." She says.

I smile. She just too cute right now. "Okay. Let's get you out to that cab." She doesn't make any movement so I start walking hoping she will get the idea and try and walk with me. I twist so that she is on my right side and I sling my arm around her waist.

I make it to the door with her and then there's the three stairs that we have to get down to get to the taxi cab. The first one goes smoothly but the next two don't. She trips, or I trip, I don't really know. But I am throwing my free hand out. Thankful the cab pulled up tight to the curb. I take two big steps and brace myself with my hand on the back door of the cab. It's a chain reaction after that. She crashes into my side and my body crashes into the side of the cab.

Both my arms wrap around her to keep her up. I look down at her once I get my balance. She doesn't seem phased at all by our stumble. "What?" She says. I shake my head and push off the cab so I can open the back door.

When I have the door open she steps away from my side and climbs into the back seat on her hands and knees before plopping down on her butt. I peer into the cab. "You can get your car tomorrow."

She narrows her eyes the best that she can in her drunken state. "Tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow. Now tell this guy where you live so he can take you home."

She rattles off her address. I have no idea where that is but I guess it doesn't matter as long as the cab driver know where it is. I turn to him next. "Can you make sure she gets into her house okay?"

"Not my problem lady. I just pick 'em up and drop 'em off." He scoffs and throws the car into gear.

I half debate whether or not I should just get into the cab and go with. Make sure that this woman gets home safe and that she gets into her house or apartment without any problems. I can't do that. I have to close the bar down and my parents would kill me if I just left.

I step back and rest my hand on the door frame. "Well, get home safe." I tell the woman in the back seat. She nods at me. I smile and close the door. The cab zips off as soon as the door is shut.

I make my way up the steps and back into the back. There are only two customers left. Two guys talking with Sugar at her end of the bar. Sugar nods at me when she sees me come back inside. I go around to the backside of the bar and start the nightly cleaning and closing routine.

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**So that's the first chapter. Tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Screaming

It's three o'clock on Saturday afternoon. There are a handful of old guys at one corner of the bar and a family eating in the dining room but that's about it. The two construction workers that I was talking to just left about 10 minutes ago.

My mom is doing paperwork at one of the small tables in the dining room. She has an eye on the family and gets up every few minutes to see if they need anything before returning to her paperwork. I am in charge of the bar by myself until five when Sugar comes in and we work together for a few hours. I'm done at eight and have plans to hang out with my friends after work.

I'm watching college basketball when the door swing open. I mean really swings open so much so that it slams into the wall behind it. My head snaps over to the entrance. I can see a woman standing there in the doorway. The sun is framing the woman and I can't really she her face. I have no idea why she is just standing there as she looks around the bar quickly.

She steps forward and lets the door close behind her. I know who it is as soon as the door shuts and my eyes adjust to the dim light of the bar again. I smile as she approaches the bar. "Long time, no see." I joke. She doesn't seem amused though. She's still got that damn scowl on her face.

"What?" She questions as she stops behind the row of bar stools.

"Nothing." I shake my head. Apparently her bad mood has transferred from yesterday into today. "You want something to drink?" I don't know what else to say.

"No." She sets her hands palms flat down on the bar and leans into it over a bar stool. "I want to know who it was that decided to throw me in a fucking filthy taxi cab and ship me off into the night." I can hear the anger in her voice and how it raises towards the end of the sentence. She's mad.

"Well, I was the one who called the cab and I helped you out to it once it got here. Did you make it home alright?" I don't really understand why she is standing here so angry. At me, I assume. I did the right thing. She shouldn't have been driving last night. She was clearly drunk. She looks like the top of her head is about to pop open and a bunch of steam will start shooting out.

"I made it home but I don't know if I made it there alright." She fumes. Her fists curl up into balls. "So you are the one who put me in that taxi and sent me on my way." I nod my head cause yeah I just told her that. "I may have made it home and into bed but I have no idea how I got there. I woke up this morning and all I could remember was a lot of drinking and blonde hair and blue eyes." She growls.

I look around at notice a few of the old guys looking at us. My eyes search for my mom and once I spot her she is giving me a look. One that I can only describe as 'can you take care of this woman or do you need my help'. I nod to her that I got it. My line of sight comes back to the dark-haired woman in front of me. "Did I do something wrong? Why are you so mad? I put you in that cab because you were in no state to drive. I don't know where you live and I'm not sure if it was a long cab ride. I could reimburse you if it cost a lot." I offer. I don't really know what she wants at this point.

"I don't want your fucking money." She yells. Her fists go from the top of the counter to her sides.

Everyone in the bar is looking now. I walk around the end of the bar in a bold move and grab her by the elbow and start for the kitchen. "Hey, what are you doing?" She yells and tries to pull her arm out of my hold but I have too strong of a grip on it. I don't answer her and pull her into the kitchen with me. The two cooks turn and look at as when we enter. I give them a look and a nod. They get the hint and scamper off into the break room that is connected to the kitchen.

"Listen-" I turn so that I am facing her head on. "-I don't know what you're problem is or why you come here and start yelling. I did a good thing for you. You should be thanking me instead of yelling at me. You could be in jail for drunk driving or worse. I put you in that cab to save you from that trouble."

She stands there, her arms folded across her chest. That damn signature scowl on her face. I don't know why she isn't yelling back or why she is just standing there. Her fists are still balled up and she could punch me at any second but I don't think that is going to happen. But if it does I think I could take her in a fight. I am bigger and probably stronger. Unless she's a secret ninja, then I'm screwed.

"And another thing- this place is like my home. My family owns this bar and you can't just come in here and start screaming about- I don't even know what. You just can't do that. I am going to warn you this time but if you ever do something like this again you won't be allowed back. You are more than welcome to come here and enjoy our bar or restaurant but I am warning you that if something like this ever happens again you will be banned from this establishment." I tell her in a stern voice. I wouldn't say I am yelling just very firm and serious. "Understand?"

She just stares up at me. She is a couple inches shorter than me and I have to look down slightly to catch her eyes. "Understand?" I repeat.

"I got it." She huffs. She doesn't sound as angry. Maybe a little defeated and still upset about something. But she doesn't seem like she wants to put her hand through the wall anymore.

"Okay. So we can settle this like grown adults." I take a step back to open the door to the kitchen. "Let's go talk out in the dining room." I suggest. I offer for her to go first and then follow out of the kitchen and shut the door behind me.

The family that was eating lunch or dinner or whatever meal it was is gone now. I don't see my mom and assume that she is taking care of the bar while I deal with this. I go over to the table in the corner, the one the farthest from the bar. I pull out a chair and sit down and look up to see the slightly less angry dark-haired woman do the same across from me.

"So, I'm going to ask you a question and you can answer if you want but you don't have to. Why did you come here today?" I decide to keep it simple. I don't want her to get mad at me again. I really want to ask why she is so angry all the time though.

She shrugs and looks out the window that looks out on the parking lot. "I came to find my car. Luckily I remember where I came last night." She turns back towards me but I turn and look out the window. I don't know which one her car is.

"Right. Well, that answers that question then."

"You have more questions?" She asks.

I guess I did just sort of imply that didn't I. I don't want to lie but- "Yes. But I won't ask them." I try and gauge her reaction but she just sits there like a stone.

"Ask them." She nods at me.

"What?"

"Ask them. What do I care. You said I didn't have to answer if I didn't want, so ask them." She says.

I scrunch up my nose. I don't like the sound of this. I don't want to ask a bunch of question and have none of them answered. "Why are you so angry? I mean the two times I've seen you, you have seemed mad."

"Next question." Is the response that I get.

I huff out a frustrated breath. "Why did you come in here today? You could have just picked up your car and left without ever coming inside. I would have never known you were here."

"Next question." She crosses her arms over her chest and raises an eyebrow at me and waits.

I don't think I am going to get an answer out of her to any of my questions so I give up on the more complex questions and ask the simplest question that there is. "What's your name?"

She is quiet for a few seconds after a ask and I think that she might be thinking it over. Not that she doesn't know what her own name is but rather whether or not she wants to tell me what it is.

"Santana Lopez."

"Great, Santana, why didn't you want to tell me your name today or last night for that matter?"

She narrows her eyes at me. I think for a second that she might be thinking whether or not she wants to answer like she did with the last question. I watch her and she watches me. It's a little creepy actually.

She unfolds her arms and puts her hands on the edge of the table and leans forward. I think she is about to say something so I lean in closer to her. But as soon as I do she pushes the chair away from the table and stands up. She turns her back to me and walks away.

She gets to the door before I realize that she is leaving. I push my chair out and run after her. "Wait." I yell but the door is already closing. I run over to it and push it open and run down the three steps.

She peels out of the parking lot in a black car and is disappearing down the street before I know it.

I hang my head and walk back inside. I'm not really sure why I am so bummed out. I think part of me wanted to get to know more about the mystery woman. She's seems so angry and I want to know why.

As soon as I get inside my mother eyes me from head to toe. She is asking me questions with her eyes. I slip back behind the bar and my mom is still eyeing me. I grab her by the elbow and pull her through the small door at the back of the bar into the kitchen.

"What was all that?" My mom asks as she shuts the door behind her.

I shake my head. "I'm not really sure, to be honest."

"Well, why was that woman screaming at you? Did you do something to offend her?"

I shake my head again trying to wrap my mind around everything that has happened in the last thirty minutes. "No. You don't remember, do you? She was in here last night. Sitting at the bar, all night, by herself. She seemed angry. She didn't talk hardly at all. I didn't even find out her name until a couple of minutes ago."

"Hmmm." Mom hums. "Strange character."

"Yeah. I don't even know why she was screaming and I asked her but she wouldn't give me an answer. She was really drunk last night and I told her she shouldn't drive and I called her a cab. She seemed to have some sort of problem with that. I don't know why though."

My mom puts her hand on my shoulder. "You did the right than dear. Don't worry about it. You did the same thing I would have done."

"Yeah, but she didn't scream at you." I hang my head.

My mom's hand pats at my shoulder. "Honey, you did the right thing. Don't feel bad about what you did."

"Okay."

"Now, what did you tell her about coming here again?" My mom asks me. I know the answer she is searching for. She wants to know that I warned the woman.

"I told her that if she even come back here and started screaming ever again that she would be banned from the property."

"Good. Now back to work."

My mom starts talking to the cooks, Finn and Will. I go back out into the bar. The first thing I do is look at the clock and hope that it's almost five and Sugar will be here soon and I can tell her all about this weird ass afternoon.

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**Short chapter i know. This will probably the shortest chapter. I already have a number of chapters written and they are all longer than this. Some much longer. **

**With that being said i hope you all are liking this so far. I can't quite believe the number of reviews and favorite and followers after that first chapter. Thank you all.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Root Beer

Monday rolls around and I am on my way to the bar to talk to my mom. Monday's are the slowest day of the week so I can get away with it. I know there won't be many customers in the bar and I can talk to my mom with her having to stop every few minutes to refill glasses.

Monday is my day off. I spent the first part of my day sleeping in and then I ran errands. I went to the bank, the grocery store, and I went to the pet store to get Lord Tubbington more cat food. Being the owner's daughter I got to pick which day of the week that I wanted off. So, I picked Monday's. They are super slow and I just can't handle that. I like the more fast paced days at the bar. More people, more customers, more excitement and more fun all around. It's great, though, cause I get two days in a row off. Sundays and Mondays.

The bar is closed on Sundays and I am off on Mondays. It's perfect.

I walk in and my mom sees me right away. "Hey, honey, how is your day off?"

I nod. "Good. How was has your day been?" I ask her as I slip behind the bar.

"Slow, so far. I'm glad you are here. Put in your order for dinner, I just did. Sugar should be here any minute and then we can eat."

"Okay." I grab an order tablet and scribble down what I want for dinner and walk into the kitchen. I pull the top sheet off the tablet and hand it to Will.

"You're dinner order, I assume." He say politely. I nod. "Okay, well, I we have this done in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Will. Where's Finn?" I look at the clock. It's five minutes to five. Finn is suppose to be here at five. The man is to work early, five to ten minutes, usually. It's odd that Finn isn't here yet.

"Don't know. He's suppose to be her at five so- he's still got a few minutes. I'm sure he's just running late." Will mumbles as he flips two burgers on the grill.

"Yeah, probably. Thanks for-" I wave my hand at my order slip. "-ya know."

"Sure thing. I'll send it out with your mom's." He nods and starts on her dinner. I skip out into the bar again and grab a can of Sprite on my way. As I am pulling out a bar stool the door swings open and Finn comes running in.

"Sorry I'm late. My cheap ass car broke down." He explains to no one in particular. He also seems a little winded as he comes in. "I ran here." Well, that explains the winded thing.

"It's fine. But, maybe call next time and let us know you are running late." My mom tells him as he rounds the corner of the bar and heads into the dining room towards the door to the kitchen.

"Sorry. I'll call next time." He waves a hand in my mom's direction before disappearing around the corner.

Sugar was here when I came out from the kitchen. She was talking to my mom about something before Finn interrupted everything. It seems that Finn's grand entrance caused them to forget whatever they were talking about and now my mom is headed in my direction.

"Ready?" She asks and I nod. I get off my bar stool and follow her into the dining room. She picks a table and we sit and wait for our food.

I asked to have dinner with her cause I want to ask her about a few things that have been on my mind in the last couple of day. "So, what did you want to talk about?" She beats me to it.

I chuckle a little. I was just going to ask her if we could talk. "Well, about the other day, actually."

"Honey, I told you not to worry about that. You didn't do anything wrong. You actually did everything right. That woman did everything wrong. She shouldn't have come in here like that."

"No, I don't want to talk about that." Her face scrunches up in confusion. "I want to talk about the woman." I explain. Some of the confusion slips from her face. "I just- I wanted to know if you knew who she was. I have never seen her in here before Friday night."

My mom nods. "I don't know who she is. I have never seen her before either. What did she say her name was?"

"Santana. Santana Lopez." I tell my mom. I really like the name. It's not a normal boring name like most the other names in Lima Ohio. It's different.

"Oh, um, I don't know her but I do know that there is a Dr. Lopez down at the hospital and seeing as that isn't really a common name around her I would assume that they are related and that there is a good chance that Dr. Lopez is her father."

I nod as my mom talks. That all makes sense.

"I don't know anything else though. But I can ask around."

"Okay, that sounds good." I nod some more.

One of the best parts about your family owning a bar and being a bartender is that you can always find out something from someone. You just need to ask, the right people, the right questions. It's likely that one of the regulars that comes in everyday knows a thing or two about Santana Lopez or her family. This isn't a huge town and everybody knows somebody who knows somebody else. And people like to gossip.

Our food comes as I am pondering the thoughts of one of the customers knowing something about Santana. My cheeseburger and chili looks great and my mom's chicken breast and fries looks good too. I will have to remember to thank Will later.

I round the corner from the dining room into the bar and stop dead in my tracks. Speak of the devil. I had just brought mine and mom's dishes into the kitchen so they could be washed and came back out into the dining room and mom was missing from the table that we were sitting at. I assumed she was just in the bar, so, that's were I went. But, I wasn't expecting to see Santana sitting there.

"Hey." She say once she sees me. She sounds almost timid or scared.

"Hi, Santana, right?" I know her name I don't know why I ask.

"Yeah." She nods.

"Come in for another night of drinking?" I ask. She has a glass in her hand so… I just assume.

"No." She says. I raise an eyebrow and point to her glass. She shakes her head. "No. I actually came to see you but-" Both of my eyebrow are raised now. "-I didn't see you anywhere so I thought I could have just one drink and then leave."

"Oh, what did you want to see me about?" My mind is screaming at me that she wants something from me. I lean against the back countertop as casually as I can. My body screaming at me to do the opposite and to lean against the bar top that separates her from me.

"I feel like I should apologize for the other day. I was out of line. I don't know why I came in here and started yelling. I just came, on Saturday, to retrieve my car and then go home but something brought me in here. Then I don't know what happened and I started screaming at you for basically no reason. I felt like shit and I was mad and I took it out on you so-" She shrugs and looks away from me. "-I wanted to come in and apologize."

"Oh." I'm not really sure what else to say. It's nice that Santana felt she needed to come here and apologize but I don't know what to say to her.

She looks back to me and looks me up and down. "Yeah, are you working right now? It kinda looks like you're not."

"Nope. Monday is my day off." I smile at her for the first time today.

"Okay, Brittany, I am really sorry about the other day. I promise that it won't happen again. I know that you guys don't need that kinda of thing happening around here. It being bad for business and all. So, yeah, I'm sorry. And as long as I am having a drink-" She motions towards the glass of beer in front of her. "-can I buy you a beer seeing as you aren't working and it would make me feel better and complete my apology."

She looks around the bar nervously. It's cute. Her nervous and rambling.

"Well, all is forgiven but I don't know about that drink." I'm gonna mess with her a little bit.

"Why not? Did you have somewhere you have to be? Like a date or something? I'm sorry I didn't mean to assume that you didn't have anything going on tonight just because you said you weren't working I thought-" Santana cuts herself off by sucking her lips into her mouth.

"No, I don't have a date or anything. I am hanging out with a few friends later on tonight but that's not for a few hours yet. It's just that I get my drinks for free." It's really easy to mess with her and I'm loving it.

She looks down at her hands that are gripping around the glass. "Oh, right." When she lifts her eyes back up, I smile at her brightly. "What?" She asks when she sees my smile.

"Nothing." I says and wait for what she is going to says next. Hopefully, more cute rambling.

"Um- could you just have a drink with me then. I mean, since you get all your drinks for free. I mean, as part of my apology, except without me paying for the drink. God, please, just have a drink with me." She ramblings.

Without giving her an answer I push off the counter and go to the other end of the bar. I open one of the coolers and grab a bottle and make my way back over to the other end of the bar where Santana sits. She is sitting in the same spot she sat on Friday night. The last stool at the end of the bar. I round the end of the bar and pull out the bar stool next to hers. I twist the cap off my drink and hold it in the air towards her. She gets the hint and lifts her glass in the air and clinks them together.

"To?" I ask.

"To apologies and making an ass out of myself." Santana fills in.

I laugh and take a drink. "To making an ass out of yourself."

I see her roll her eyes and look away from me. I look up and the news is on the television. It's fairly quiet in the bar so, I can here what they are talking about. A car accident, road construction, some new littering law. A commercial comes on and I look next to me to see if she is watching the tv or not.

She wasn't watching the tv that's for sure. I'm almost positive that she was watching me. I don't know for sure cause as soon as I turned my head to look at her, I saw her eyes flick away to somewhere down the bar but she was facing in my direction. I smile a teeny tiny smile because I just caught her looking at me.

"What's that bartender's name?" She asks and I assume it's to take the pressure off of her.

I swing my head around the look down the bar at Sugar. "That's Sugar. She's a friend of mine. Why?" I ask her and turn back to look at her. Her eyes come up and make eye contact with mine.

She shrugs. "No reason." Then her eyes flit away again. I watch and see them searching for something to land on. They stop after a couple of seconds. "Is that a root beer that you are drinking?"

I assume that's what her eyes have stopped on, I keep my eyes on hers as I lift my bottle to my lips. Her eyes following the movement all the way to my lips. I take a drink before lowering the bottle back to the bar top. Her eyes stay on my face though, but not on my eyes. "Yes. This is root beer. I happen to like root beer. Is something wrong with that?"

"No." She shakes her head. "I just thought that you wear drinking beer this whole time."

"Well, I wasn't." I say and turn back to the tv. The sports segment is on.

"Okay." She says from next to me.

I finish my root beer a few minutes later. "Well, thanks for the drink that I get for free anyway, but you insisted that I drink with you for an apology." It's getting dark outside, making it a little darker in the bar, but I think I can see the light blush that dusts her cheeks when I say that.

"Your welcome and sorry again for the other day." She waves her hand absently.

"It's no problem." I tell her and get up off my bar stools. "I have some stuff to do before I meet up with my friends, so I should go, but maybe I will see you around here again." I say as I walk around the end of the bar, and behind it, putting the bar between the two of us.

"Yeah, probably." She nods.

"Well, bye, Santana." I really like the way her name rolls off my tongue.

She ducks her head. "Bye." She gives an awkward wave without looking.

I smile and go over to the little door that leads into the kitchen. I have one more stop before I leave.

"Hey, Will. Finn." They both look up from the food that they are preparing to see who it is. But I'm sure that they know it's me just from my voice. Finn nods his head and looks back down to the food.

"Hey, Brittany." Will greets, his eye on me a little longer before returning to his work.

I go up to the end of the station that Will is working at. "Thanks for dinner, it was great."

"Good, I'm glad you liked it."

"I would thank you too, Finn, but I know that you were late." I say. Boy needs a good teasing every now and then.

"Sorry, Britt." Finn mumbles.

"Hey, Finn started helping me as soon as he got here so yes he did help with your meal." Will fills me in. I nod. I figured that Finn helped when he got here. He came in like a minute or two after a handed Will my order.

"Yeah, well, thanks too, Finn, I guess." I giggle as I exit the kitchen through the door to the dining room. There are a couple of families out there eating dinner and I smile at them as I pass. I make my way through the dining room and back to the bar. I've just basically walked in a circle in the last few minutes.

Santana straightens up on her bar stool when she sees me again. "I thought you were leaving?"

I look around before I know what I am going to say. "And I thought you were only having one drink?" I point to the freshly topped off beer in front of her. She shrugs her shoulders like she doesn't know. "And I have to say goodbye to my mom before I leave." I point down to the other end of the bar to where my mom is standing listening to something one of the customer's is saying.

"Right." She nods.

I walk over to my mom and throw an arm around her shoulder. "I'm leaving now." I whisper in her ear.

She turns to me. "I see you had a drink with our troublemaker from Saturday." My mom nods behind me to where Santana is sitting.

"Yeah, she came in to apologize and asked if she could buy me a drink." I inform her.

My mom laughs. "That's good. So, we won't be having anymore problems with her?" I shake my head cause I'm certain that Santana won't come in here yelling and screaming ever again. "Alright. Get lost and stay out of trouble." She steps out of my hold and pats me on the butt.

"I will." I never get in trouble but my mom always says that every time she knows that I am going somewhere or hanging with friends. I walk back down the length of the bar. "Bye Sugar." I say as I pass the girl. She pats me on the ass too. It must be today's theme.

"Bye, Britt. See ya on Friday." Sugar yells as I walk away.

I get back to the other end of the bar where Santana is still sitting. I smile at her one last time as I approach her. She smiles back. It's small, just a lift of the corner of her lips, but I can tell that it's genuine. I get the impression that she doesn't smile much.

I run my finger along the back edge of the bar as I go by. "You wanna slap me on the ass too?" I ask cause I know that she was watching both times when my mom did it and when Sugar did. Out of the corner of my eye I see her duck her head down. I know she isn't going to answer my question. I also know that she thought about slapping my ass just from her reaction. My smile widens.

"Bye, everybody." I yells as a round the corner of the bar and move towards the exit.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Friday Nights

It's starting to get busy. It's dinner time and the dining room is practically fully. Which is great. There are a few folks sitting at the bar but it's not the crowd that I expect it to be later in the night. Right now, it's more laid back and later it will be more high energy.

"The dining room is crazy tonight. Is there a home game tonight?" My dad asks as he slides past me. He has an order in his hand and is on his the way to submit it to the kitchen staff.

"Yeah. There's a girls basketball game tonight." I tell him. I heard one of the guys at the bar talking about it.

"Okay, good. Looks like we will have a busy night then."

"Yep." I nod. It's true. Usually, anytime there is a high school home game of an sort, we have more business. Both before and after the game. Tonight it's girls basketball and it looks like a lot of families have come in for dinner before they head to the game. They are all decked out in the school colors and some of the younger kids have face paint of little M's on their cheeks.

A guy flags me down for a refill and I walk over to him. "Can I get another beer, please?" He asks.

"Yep." I take his glass and refill it before bringing it back to him. "There you go." I say with a smile. He smiles and nods and turns back to the conversation he is having with his buddy.

"Hey." I hear from my right. I don't recognize the voice. I turn my head and there she is. I go over to her. She pulls out the stool that she always sits at. It's conveniently unoccupied.

"Hey." Is my response. "What can I get for you today?" I ask with a welcoming smile.

"Just a beer. Bottle, please." She says and looks around the bar. She looks at everyone in the bar and then her eyes dart over to the dining room area. From where she is sitting she can't see the whole dining room only maybe half of it but can get an idea of what's going on in there. "Pretty busy tonight. More so than last Friday."

"Yep." I hand her her bottle of beer. "Home game tonight."

She nods and I assume she knows what I am talking about and don't explain further. "Basketball?" She asks and I nod.

"Girls." I say and she nods.

"Ah, high school." She sighs. I'm not sure what that means but I nod anyway. Suddenly I'm curious to where she went to high school and if she was in any clubs or sports. Maybe I can ask her at some point.

She is watching a family. A mom and dad and two kids maybe ages 10 and 12. So, I watch the family too. I watch as the mother helps her daughter put her coat on and zips it up and kisses the little girl on the top of the head.

I smile and turn but to look over the bar and see if anyone needs anything. When I see that they don't my eyes return to Santana. She has her beer tipped back and is draining it as quickly as she can.

"Whoa, slow down there tiger." I joke.

She finishes the bottle and slams it against the bar top. She has one eyebrow raised at me. And that scowl is back. I could have sworn that it wasn't there a minute ago or when she came in. It's like her mood has done a 180 in the last two minutes. "Get me another." She says in a low gravely voice.

"Okay." I go over to the beer cooler and pull out another beer for her. It's a little alarming to me at how fast her mood changed. Everything seemed fine and then, BAM, angry Santana again. I guess I will have to be more careful with what I say. I don't want to make her mad.

I hand her her drink but she doesn't say anything. Not so much as a thank you. Her eyes now glue on the tv up in the corner. Sports Center is on. Either she really like sports or it's just a distraction because her focus never leaves the television, not once. I stand there for a few minutes watching along absentmindedly. But my mind is spinning with questions about the sudden change in her behavior.

Someone yells my name and a turn around to go over to them. It's a guy that always come in here on Friday nights. I can't remember his name though. "How are you?" I greet.

"Good. Can I get a Captain and Coke" He asks.

I nod. "Sure. Be right back." I scoot over a few feet to make his mixed drink. It takes a minute to make and then I slide back over to him, handing him the glass.

"Thank you, very much." He says with a grateful smile. I love polite people. It makes the little things so much better. A simple thank you can go a long way.

I look down to the end of the bar where Santana is sitting. She's not looking at the tv anymore. She looks like she is just staring at the back wall of the bar. It hits me then. She looks more sad than angry.

I walk over to her. "Another?" I ask.

She shakes her head really quickly and looks at me and I can see the confusion in her eyes. I repeat the question and nod towards her beer bottle. "Yeah." She pushes the bottle to the edge of the counter and I swipe it up before it can fall on the floor.

I get another bottle and bring it back but don't set it on the bar for her. "Having a bad day?" I ask.

She narrows her eyes at me. "No." I stare at her and she stares back at me. "Can I have my damn beer now?" I drop my eyes from hers and hand the beer over. I definitely lost that stare down.

Feeling defeated a go over to Sugar. She's just standing there looking bored. "What's up, Sug?"

"Not much. How's it going with Ms. Crabby Pants over there?"

"Great." I deadpan. "She is a bucket of joy."

"Seems like it. What's her deal anyway? I saw her here last Friday but I've never seen her before that."

"I'm not really sure. She said she's never been here before last week and she seems mad or sad or maybe both."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Sugar says and punches me on the arm. She slides up to an old guy at the end of the bar and starts talking to him. She's a bit of a spaz sometimes.

The bar isn't too busy and everyone seems good for the moment so I slip behind the door and into the kitchen. Maybe that was a bad idea. It's chaos in here. Will and Finn look like chickens with their head's cut off. They are preparing multiply meals at once. My mom is back here helping out. She always works in the kitchen on Friday nights. It's the busiest time of the week for food orders so they need the help. And then there's the dishwasher girl, I think her name is Marley or something. She washing the dishes as fast as she can and putting them through the dishwasher and drying them as soon as they are done.

"Wowzers." I breathe out as a walk through the kitchen and into the walk in cooler. I stand in there for a few seconds and try and collect my thoughts. There is so much buzzing through my head. Work, Santana sitting at the bar, how busy it will be the remainder of the night, all spinning around in my head. After it gets kinda cold, I grab a case of beer and haul it back out to the bar.

Once I put all the new bottle of beer into the cooler behind the bar I go back over to Santana. "Whatcha watching?" I ask as I see her watching the tv again.

"Whatever's on. Basketball I guess." I look it's not Sports Center anymore, it's college basketball.

"Right. So, you done with that one?" She nods so I get her another. "You gonna sit here all by yourself all night again?" I can't help but ask.

"Do you seen anyone else with me?" She growls.

"No, I just-"

"You just what?" She shoots back. I shrug. I don't know what I thought. I'm not sure what to say so I leave and go into the dining room. It's a little less congested now. It's quieter than the bar and I stand there for a moment before heading back to the bar.

I serve a few more people than get Santana another beer. That's five in like three hours or something.

I stand by Sugar for a while and listen to the conversation she is having with a middle aged black woman. I think they are talking about weaves or something to do with hair. Something that I have no idea about, so I just listen.

Santana waves me down to her a few minutes later and I get her another beer. I can tell that they are starting to effect her now. Now that she is a little loosened up maybe I can talk to her without her ripping my head off.

"So, can I ask-" I set the beer down on the counter. "-where did you go to high school?"

"Here. McKinley." She says and grabs her drink and turns her attention back to the basketball game on the tv.

"Hey, me too. I don't remember you though." I'm surprised. I'm almost sure I would have remembered her if I had seen her at school.

"We weren't in the same class." She says in a monotone. So, does that mean she know who I am or remembers me from high school?

"But, it's not big school. Well, it kind of is but it's not that big. I think I would have seen you. How old are you?"

"23, why?"

"Just curious." I shrug and think about it for a few minutes. "So, that means you would have been a senior when I was a sophomore."

"Very good, Sherlock." She rolls her eyes at the tv.

She still seems agitated about something. I don't really think it has anything to do with me. I hope not. But, I wish I knew what it was. Maybe I could help. I don't know, talk about it or something. It always helps when I talk to somebody about a problem that I am having.

"Can I ask you something?" She turns away from the tv and actually makes eye contact with me. "You don't have to answer if you don't want." Hoping that will take some of the pressure off.

"Okay."

"What's wrong? I mean, why do you seem so angry?"

She narrows her eyes further and I think she is going to give me an answer. A few seconds go by and I just wait. She shakes her head a tiny bit and turns back to the tv and take a drink of her beer. She sets the bottle down, empty. "Another."

I sigh and take the empty beer bottle and get another one for her. I don't think I've ever met a more difficult person to talk to. I bring her back her fresh beer and stand in silence and watch the basketball game with her.

It gets busy again at about 9:30. The girl's basketball game is over and everyone comes in to celebrate a win. A lot of pizzas are ordered, a lot of sodas for the kids and a lot of alcoholic beverages for the adults. It keeps us busy until almost 11.

In that time, I gave Santana two more beers. She never talked to anyone. She just sat there on her stool and watched tv. Every once and a while I would catch her watching what I was doing. But, other than that she just sat there. She is clearly drunk now and I feel bad. Like it was my doing. That I am at fault for her being drunk. But, I was just doing my job and serving her whenever she asked. There's a point in the night when it's too much and that point has been reached. For a tiny girl she can really hold her alcohol.

So, when she asks for another beer after she finishes her ninth, I say no. She groans but doesn't fight me about it. She slowly brings her head down to the bar top and rolls her forehead back and forth.

It's unusual but whatever. Drunk people are unpredictable, at best. "I can call you a cab if you want to go home."

Her head shoots up off the counter and she nearly falls backwards off the stool. I reach forward and grab her forearm to steady her. She looks down at my hand on her arm. "I don't want to go home." She slurs to my hand.

"Okay. But, I'm not giving you anymore alcohol."

She looks up at me. "Okay." She smiles. Like, actually smiles. The corner's of her lips lift and thin and her cheeks rise and her teeth make an appearance. And it's beautiful. I stare at it for probably too long because it disappears and then- "What?".

"Nothing. Just I've haven't seen you actually smile before." And then she is scowling again. Well, so much for that smile. "So, you want me to call that cab now?" I ask again. I don't know what the point of her staying here is if she isn't drinking, if she isn't here with anyone, and if she doesn't want to talk about anything.

She shakes her head. "No. I can't go home."

"Why?" I have no idea why she doesn't want to go home but I don't know what else I can do. She can technically stay her until closing time but then she has to go home.

"Not yet. I can't go home, yet." She mumbles.

"Well, you can't stay here overnight." I chuckle a little after I say it. I look down at her and she is hunched over the bar, staring up at me, and smiling again. It must have been what I said but I didn't think I would be seeing that smile again tonight. "I'm gonna go help Sugar over there." I point over to where Sugar is washing glasses. "Will you be okay here?" She nods and I smile at her before going to help Sugar.

It's 1:30 when I call for a cab. It's 1:45 when I hear the honk from outside. "Your cab is here." I tell Santana. She nods and stands up. She's a little wobbly on her feet. I want to go to help her but she seems to be getting to the door by herself alright. It's not until she can't get the door opened that I go over to help her.

I slide up next to her, wrap my hand around hers, that is on the door knob. "Here." I whisper. I turn the knob and push the door open.

I step outside and she follows me out. Her face is scrunched up and she looks all confused. "I had that." She slurs, I assume, referring to the door.

"Sure ya did." I joke. "Lets get you into the cab." I put a hand on her shoulder and guide her down the three step towards the cab. I pull the cab door open and she plops down in the seat with a thump. I giggle a little. To be honest, it's kinda cute her being drunk and obviously looser than she normal would be and not caring how she appears. "Alright. Uh- have a good rest of your night."

She squints up at me from inside the cab. "I'm just gonna go home and pass out."

What am I suppose to say to that. "Well, good luck with that." I guess that will do.

"Good luck to you too, Ms. Bartender." She turns abruptly to the cab driver. "Home James." She orders.

"But, I don't know where you live." The cab driver tells her and she rattles off her address quickly. I don't know how is can barely form a coherent sentence but can say her address as if she were sober.

I laugh. "Okay. I'll let you go." I shut the door, wait for the cab to pull away from the curb. Once it's gone I go back inside and start cleaning for the night.

My mind wanders over the night, and over Santana, and how she went from seeming like everything was fine and the next second all pissed off. She is a mystery, that's for sure. I wonder why she didn't want to go home and why she even comes here in the first place. Two Friday nights in a row she has come in here, all by her safe, and drunk herself into oblivion. There's gotta be a reason behind it. That's not exactly normal behavior.

I resolve in that second that if she continues to come in here, that I will do everything that I can to get to the bottom of it. To find out why she seems mad and sad and whatever other emotions I've seen cross her face. I saw her smile and it is a quite beautiful smile. And I think that she should smile more. And I will do whatever I can to make that happen.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Info

I wake up on Saturday morning and get ready for my noon shift at work. One of the first thoughts that runs through my head once I wake up is _Santana_. I wonder if she made it home okay.

I hop out of bed and get in the shower. I feed Lord Tubbington and get the mail. At quarter to twelve, I head out of my apartment and over to the bar.

I scan the parking lot to see how many customer's might be in the bar. A thought runs through my head, and I look for a specific car. A black car, that I've only seen once before, but I would know it if I saw it again. But, it's not there.

My shoulder's sag as I realize that Santana's car isn't in the parking lot. She must have come and picked it up already. I don't know how because I was barely able to get out of bed at eleven and I didn't even drink anything the night before. I don't know how someone who drank as much as her could be functioning properly before noon.

I skip up the steps and into the bar. "Hi, mom." I greet as the bell over the door chimes when I come in.

"Hi, honey. How did things go after we left last night?" She asks.

"Fine. No problems. Everyone left and we closed and Sugar and I cleaned the bar. The usual." I shrug as I round the end of the bar. It was pretty usual except for one thing. The same thing as the Friday before. That dark-haired woman that sat at the bar and didn't want to go home.

There are three regulars sitting at the middle of the bar sipping beer and eating peanuts. I never understand how anyone can drink beer this early in the day but they still do. I don't think I will ever understand that one.

"Good. So, I saw that Santana girl in here last night."

"Yeah. And?" I say at lean against the counter at the back of the bar with my hip.

"And- how did that go?" My mom asks as she wipes down the already clean bar. Nervous habit, I know.

"Fine. Do you know anything more about her? Cuz I can't get a damn thing out of her." I cross my arms over my chest.

She stops wiping at the bar and turns to face me, a couple feet away. "Yeah, I asked around." She pauses and I raise an eyebrow, silently asking her for more information. "I only know a couple of things. Like two or three. I told you that there is a Dr. Lopez at the hospital." I nod. "Well, that is her father."

"Okay, her dad's a doctor. What else?"

"Her mother apparently owns an insurance business and she sells all sorts of insurance. I feel like I should have known that already but that's not really the point, now is it."

"No, mom it's not." I smile a little.

"Right, well, I also heard that Santana went away to college and then came back when she finished and now she sells insurance with her mother. She works for her mother's company and the rumor is that when the older Lopez retires Santana is set to take over the business."

"Hmm. Interesting." I mumble. The new information swirling around in my head. "I'm gonna go punch in." I walk away from my mom and into the kitchen.

"Hey Will, how's it going?" I say passing through.

"Good Brittany. How are you?" The cook says in reply.

"I'm okay." I say and head into the break room and punch in for my shift. I ponder the new information that my mother has just given me. Some of it seems to fit Santana but other parts don't.

* * *

It's my favorite work day of the week. It's Friday, again, it's dinnertime, it's busy, and we are making money. Doesn't get much better than that.

I'm filling a pitcher of beer for a group of guys when the door bell rings above the door and I look up. I smile immediately.

"Hi, Brittany." Santana says as she sits down in her spot. I go over to her once I am done with the pitcher. "Beer me." She smiles, like actually smiles.

I giggle. "Tap or bottle?"

She puts her index finger on her chin and tilts her head to the side. It's so cute. "Um- bottle."

"Coming right up ma'am."

Santana stands from her bar stool, her palms flat to the counter, leaning over the bar. "Oh hell no. You did not just call me ma'am. I'm not an old fucking lady." She says offended. "Ma'am is my mother, not me."

I hold my hands in the air in front of my face. "Sorry. Sorry. How is Ms. Lopez? Is that better?" I offer.

"Better- but not ideal." She says, leaning back a little bit.

I put my hands on my hips. "What would be ideal then?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Santana or-or-" She trails off. "How about that beer?" She raises an eyebrow at me. I nod and she sits back down. I wonder what she was going to say. What 'name' or perhaps nickname she wanted me to call her. I go get her drink and bring it back.

Santana seems to be in a better mood than I have ever seen her before. It's refreshing and I like it. Seeing her smile makes my feel a little better. I was starting to think that she was mad all the time and never smiled. But, this is proof that that isn't the case.

After her second beer and the bar has calmed down a bit after the dinner rush, I head back over with another beer for her. I intend to start up a conversation with her because she seems to be in such a good mood. Hopefully, that works to my advantage.

I think I know a few things about her now- thanks to my mom- and hope to confirm those things. "So, Santana, you know that I am a bartender, but what is it that you do?"

She takes a drink of her beer instead of answering my question. When she puts the bottle down on the bar top she looks down the length of the bar before her eyes come back and lock on my face. "I sell insurance." She shrugs.

"That sounds-" I'm not sure how that sounds. Selling insurance doesn't seem like it would be a fun job.

"Boring. It sounds boring." She fills in for me. "And it is. Boring as hell." She says it in that monotone voice.

"Hmm. Right. If it's so boring then why do you do it?" I can't help but ask. I might be pushing some sort of invisible boundary but I can't think to care much about that.

She shrugs again and takes another drink. "It's not like I have much of a choice."

"Why?"

She narrows her eyes. "Because."

"Because why?"

She sighs. "Because my mother own the insurance business that I work at and I am the future of said business. When she retires, early I might add, I am expected to take over the place."

"Oh." I don't know what to say to that. I would say that taking over after her mom is pretty awesome, but she doesn't seem too excited about it, so maybe it's not too awesome for her. "Do you not want to take over after your mother retires?"

"I don't know." She mumbles. "I don't really want to talk about work right now."

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know, Brittany. Just not work or my mother." Just like that she is harsh and cold.

"Mmm." I hum to acknowledge what she said. I look around and see someone waving at me. I go over and lean across the bar and give them a hug. "Hey, Mike, what are you doing in here?"

"Night out with the guys." He says when we separate. "They're over there." He points over his shoulder at a group of his friends standing around one of the small tables away from the bar. I recognize a few of them. I can't remember their names but I know that I have seen them before and Mike has probably even introduce me to them, at some point in time. "Can I get two pitchers of beer and six glasses?" He asks politely. He's always so polite.

"Yeah, sure." I reached for the stack of plastic glasses and hand them to him. "Here ya go. I'll get the beer." I get two pitchers and start filling the first one. When it's full I set it on the top of the bar and Mike takes it in one hand with the stack of glasses in the other and goes over to his buddies. I fill the other and he comes back for it.

He hands me a twenty. "Keep the change." His says and takes the pitcher and returns to his friends.

"Thanks, Mike. Have fun." He looks over his shoulder and smiles at me. He's so polite.

I refill two glasses for two different patrons that are sidled up to the bar on my way back to the other end. "Is that your boyfriend or something?" Santana asks as I approach her.

I laugh. Like really laugh. "No." I shake my head. "He is definitely not my boyfriend. He's just a friend of mine."

"Oh. Why is that so funny?" She asks with a straight face. Apparently, she didn't find any humor in that.

"Because he's like a brother to me." I shiver. "I can't even imagine- that-" I say vaguely. She looks away from me uncomfortably. "But- uh- yeah."

"Yeah." She says awkwardly.

I look around the bar but nobody seems to need my attention. Bummer, cuz this is super awkward. I need to think of something to say, quickly, that will get me out of this situation. "So, where did you go to college?"

"How do you know I went to college?" She shoots back immediately. Doesn't miss a beat this one.

I shrug. "I just assumed." It's a lie but she doesn't need to know that.

She takes her eyes off the tv and turns her head towards me. "You know what they say about people who assume?" She says with a little smirk. I roll my eyes and nod. "Makes an ass out of u and me."

"Yeah. Yeah." I grab my towel off my shoulder and wipe down the bar around her.

"Well, you assume correctly. I did go to college." I look up from where I was watching as I wiped the bar. "Ohio State." Santana adds.

"Cool. Did you like it there?"

"I guess. I liked it better than I like it here. I don't know if that's good or bad."

"How so?"

"Well, first of all I'm still living at home with my parents. God knows why? And second, at school, I could do what I wanted without thinking what other people thought. Or have to watch what I do because I might make a bad impression on my family. Or some bullshit like that."

I ponder over her words for a few seconds. "Why don't you just move out?" It seems so simple to me.

She shrugs. "I don't know. At first it was because I was just out of college. And I didn't have any money. And I had a bunch of student loans. But those aren't going away anytime soon so…"

"You could like get a roommate and split rent or something like that." I offer.

"Yeah. Maybe." She mumbles and turns back to the tv. I look up and a hockey game is on. Yuck. Hockey is boring. I never have any idea where the little black thing is. What's it called. A nugget. A saucer. No, I know a puck. Puck. That reminds me of this guy from high school named Puck. Well, that wasn't his real name but that's not the point.

I shake my head from my thoughts. I check Santana's drink and see that it's empty. "I'll get you another beer." I grab the bottle and see her nod in my peripheral vision.

A few hours pass. A few more drinks pass too.

"Hey." Santana slumps forward, her elbows digging into the bar. "You want to control my life, again, tonight?" She asks me and I look around to make sure that she is talking to me, but there's no one around us, so she must have been. The thing is, I don't know what she is talking about. I don't think I have ever had any control over her life, ever.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you are talking about." I take a step closer so that I am standing in front of her. A few feet and the bar separating us.

She points her left index finger at me. "You." She points for emphasis. "Gon." Her finger is right in front of my face. "Call." It wobbles a little in her drunken state. "Me." I wrap my hand around her wrist but don't attempt to remove her hand from in front of my face. "A." Her finger is an inch away from my nose and I stare down at it. "Cab." She juts her hand forward and jabs me in the nose.

I laugh. I can't help it. It's cute and silly and she's drunk. "Sure." I pull her hand away from my face now. "I'll call you a cab." I let go of her wrist and turn to grab the phone.

"What are you doing?" She nearly yells as I pick up the phone.

I turn back to face her. "Calling you a cab."

"I don't want to go home." She sits back. Her arms folded over her chest. And that scowl is on her face again.

"How come you don't want to go home?" She keeps mentioning it and now I am determined to get to the reason why.

"For the same reason I don't wan talk bout work." She slurs. "Cuz my motha is a bitch."

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true." I offer. I don't know her mom, though, so I guess technically, she could be a bitch, but the odds are that Santana just thinks that.

"No. It's true. She's a bitch and she never stops nagging me."

"I bet she just wants you to succeed." It doesn't necessarily make sense but it's the best I can think of at the moment.

"Whatever, she's a bitch." She says and rests her head on the bar like she is going to go to sleep right there.

I kind of feel bad for her. Her mom probably just wants the best for her daughter and wants her to succeed and take over the family business. I can't imagine that really. I mean I will probably take over the bar when my parents retire but that's not for a long time and I love my job and I love this place. So it's different.

I don't know anything about her life, really, but something in me wants to protect her from whatever it is that makes her feel that way about her mom. I want to take the pressure off her shoulders and take some of the brunt myself. If it will, at all, make her life a little easier and less stressful.

And, I think, I might have an idea, that might help. "What if-" I nudged her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Hmm." She groans. I know that she is listening, at least, even if she isn't looking at me.

"Santana, what if I drive you home." She picks her head up off the counter and looks up at me with glazed over eyes. She doesn't say anything, so I go on. "I'll drive you home and then you don't have to pay for a cab."

"Why?" She asks and I'm not really sure what she is asking.

"Because I want to." I shrug. I don't really know why either, other than I want to.

"What about work?" She asks.

I look around and Sugar is talking with the other three patrons left in the bar. I know she can handle them herself and I highly doubt anyone else is doing to come in tonight. It's already after one in the morning.

"Sugar can handle it. And I will come back to help her close and clean."

"Okay." Santana mumbles.

"Let me go tell Sugar."

"Okay." She says and puts her head back down on the bar.

"Hey Sug. Will you be okay if I step out for a few minutes?"

"Yeah." She cocks her head to the side. "Why?" She asks and I can tell that she is already suspicious. She makes a good bartender because she is nosy and a huge gossip and needs to know about everything.

"I'm gonna take Santana home." I point of my shoulder at her.

Sugar leans around me to look at the woman at the other end of the bar. She leans back and cocks an eyebrow at me. "What do you have up your sleeve, Brittany?"

"Nothing." I tell her but I know she doesn't believe me.

"Fine. Go. But you better be back to help me close."

"I will be." I promise.

I get Santana outside and into my car. We had to walk over to my apartment building parking lot, but it's only like 50 yards away from the bar parking lot, so it wasn't that far to go. I unlock the doors and open the passengers side door and help her in before going around and getting in and starting the car. It's not a new car but it's not that old either. It runs fine that's all that matters.

"You're gonna have to give me directions, okay?" I turn to the passengers seat. Santana is slumped over against the door.

"Okay." Santana sits up a little and looks around. "Go right."

I throw my hands in the air. "We're not even moving." I chuckle.

"Then start moving and turn right out of the parking lot."

"Alright." I sigh. This might be a longer adventure than I realized.

Twenty minutes and two wrong turns later we pull up outside Santana's house. "Holy shit." I mumble. Her house is huge. I wouldn't want to move out either if I lived in this mansion. "It's huge."

"That what she said." Santana giggles from my right. I swing my head around to look at her. She's looking up at the house though. "My mom's still awake can we just sit here until she goes to bed?" She points to the house. There is one light on upstairs.

"I guess." I should really get back to work. If my mom found out about this little extra curricular activity she probably wouldn't be to pleased.

"Great, thanks." She turns her attention from the house to me. I watch as her head rolls against the headrest until she is facing me. "You're great." The corners of her lips curl up but she doesn't smile fully.

"Uh- thanks." I smile at her. "And you're cute."

She takes in a deep breathe of air, moves around in her seat, leans back until her back is up against the door. "Ms. Bartender, are you flirtin wit me?"

"Would you be opposed to that?"

She scrunches up her face and it's so cute. "Ummmm- no."

"Well, then I'm definitely flirting with you." I take my eyes off of her to look around the yard. It's really nice. Great landscaping, a brick sidewalk with fountain that leads up to the front door. I look up at the house again. It is really big. The light is still on upstairs. "So, what's up with you and your mom?" I ask quietly and turn to gauge her reaction.

Santana's shoulders slump and she turns in on herself. "She just- I don't know. She just wants the perfect daughter. I'm an only child so-" She trails off with a shrug.

"I see."

"No- no." She protests. "She wants me to be the best insurance sales person, the best daughter, the best young adult this town has even seen, the best everything, really. She's a pain in my ass."

"That sounds tough."

"Yeah, like, I know she means well, but she just never relents. She's always on my ass about something or another. It used to be school and grades. Now it's work and my social life."

I just nod. I don't really know what to say to that.

"She's probably going to rip my ass for going out again, but I don't care." She seems so much more sober now than she did when we first pulled up outside her house. She doesn't say anything else. I look over at her and she is just staring out the window too.

I don't know how long we sit there in silence. But, eventually the light in the upstairs window goes out. "The lights out." I whisper.

She doesn't say anything. I don't say anything else. We sit in silence for at least another ten minutes. Shuffling sounds next to me make me turn me head. I see Santana reach for the door handle and push the door open. She leans back into the car once she gets out.

"Thank you, Brittany."

I'm not really sure what she is thanking me for. The ride home, I assume, but it seems like there is more in her thank you than just for a ride home.

"You're very welcome." I smile weakly.

She presses her lips together in a tight-lipped sort of smile. She waves awkwardly with her left hand and then steps back and shuts the door.

I watch as she walks up the brick sidewalk, passed the fountain, and up to the front door. From the porch light, I can see her pull out a key and put it in the lock. She twists the knob and steps inside. The door shuts and she is gone.

I start the car and drive back to the bar to help Sugar close up.

* * *

**So theres another chapter. Things are starting to progress between the ladies. Hope you all liked it.**


	6. Chapter 6

**First, let's not talk about last nights finale. Second, I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy.**

Chapter 6: Cats and Couches

My shift is almost over. Thank God. It's been a long day and after the long night I had last night I just want to go home and chill out.

When I got back to the bar last night after dropping Santana off at home, there were still two guys here. It was nearly two am and they were still talking with Sugar. I rolled my eyes before I told them to get out, that we were closing.

They were kind and didn't put up a fight. They got up politely and left without another word. I assumed that they weren't the kind of people that would bitch and complain that we were closing, even if it wasn't quite two yet.

Sugar, however, hadn't started any of the closing or cleaning yet. She told me that she didn't want me to feel left out and that I should be there before we started. How kind of her. Needless to say, we were there until almost three am. And then I had to be back in for my noon shift.

Just a few more minutes and I can go home, my Saturday is over.

The bells above the door chime as it opens.

"Ms. Bartender, get me a drink." I know who it is just from their voice before I even look over towards the doorway.

When I do look up I see her stumbling towards me. "Woah, easy killer." I say as Santana bumps into one of the barstools. Everyone in the bar turns to look at her. "How did you get here?" I ask.

I know for a fact that her car is still in the parking lot from yesterday. I am have specifically looked for it when I came over from my apartment.

She waves her hand around in the air. "There's a party. And my friend. Dropped me off. How cool is that?"

"So, you're in a good mood today?" I venture.

"When am I in bad mood?" She slurs.

I try not to laugh. But it comes out anyway, as a strangled giggle. "Like every time I seen you."

"Oh." She cocks her head to the side. After a few seconds of her staring off into space she taps the bar top with her finger. "Drink."

She is already drunk. I don't have any plan on plying her with anymore alcohol. So it looks like I'll have to go into the diversion tactics.

"So, how did it go last night?" I ask, changing the subject. She crinkles up her face. "After I dropped you off at home?" I elaborate. "With your mom?"

"She bitched at me this morning. Bright and early. _Santana, where were you last night? Santana, when did you get in? Santana, you can't go out every weekend and get drunk, you aren't in college anymore. Santana, this is real life. Grow up." _She says in this strange voice. I'm guessing it's her best impression of her mother. Or her best drunk impression of her mother.

"Wow." I says and look at the clock on the far wall. 8:02. Sweet. Time to blow this popsicle stand.

"Where's my drink, Ms. Bartender?" She stares up at me, now situated on a barstool.

"Okay, fine." I get a glass and fill it and hand it to her.

She takes a drink without even asking what it is. She nearly spits out the drink when she realizes that it's just water.

"Water?" She yells after she swallows her mouthful.

"Yes. Water." I say and go over to Sugar. "Don't let Santana have any alcohol." I whisper in her ear. She nods. "I'm gonna punch out now." She nods again, too busy in a conversation with somebody to actually say anything back.

Sugar and Jesse should be fine by themselves for the rest of the night. I'd say that there's about 15-20 people in here. A typical Saturday night for a bar like ours. I walk into the kitchen and up to where Will is standing in front of the grill.

"I'm gonna cook something, if that's okay with you?"

"Yeah sure." He says. Like he is going to say no. My parents own the place remember. Free food.

I pull out a bag from the cooler and throw my food in the deep fryer basket and start it cooking. I head into the back room while it's cooking and punch out. My phone has two missed calls, so I pick it up and send out a text. I grab my stuff and go back into the kitchen.

After checking my food I get a basket out and one of those thin papers to line it with. As soon as the food is done I put it in the basket. "See you on Tuesday night." I tell Will as I leave the kitchen.

"See ya, Brittany." He says as I close the door behind me.

I go out the door into the dining room and make my way through. I smile at the two tables of people that are sat down eating their meals. I get back to the bar and set the basket of French fries on the bar and sit down on the stool next to Santana.

She looks at the fries and then at me with that confused look. "What's this?" She asks.

"French fries. Eat"

"Why?" She asks.

"Have you eaten supper yet?" She doesn't answer my question, at first. But, about thirty seconds after I asked, she shakes her head. "Then eat."

She hesitantly starts picking at the fries. She looks at me after she has eaten a few. "What?" I ask. "Not good enough for you?"

She shakes her head. "No ketchup."

I roll my eyes. She's gotta make everything so complicated. I get off the bar stool and go around to the backside of the bar and pull out a bottle of ketchup and mustard that were hidden under the bar. "Here ya go." I say as I put the two bottles in front of her. She smiles up at me like I just gave her the best Christmas present ever. That smile.

I smile at her before going back and sitting down next to her. My eyes fixed on the tv while she eats. She about halfway through and I reach over with my left hand and steal a fry out of her basket.

"Hey." She swats at my hand but misses. I laugh and throw the fry in my mouth. "That's mine." She whines.

"Oh, really? Cuz I just ate one. What are you going to do about it?"

She just stares at me, perplexed. "They're mine." She says and pulls the basket farther away from me.

"Did you pay for them?" I raise an eyebrow at her.

She thinks about my question for a second. "N-no." Her brow scrunching together.

"Exactly." I say and she seems more confused than before. "Just eat." I chuckle.

I pull my phone out of my pocket. There is a new text message. I send a quick reply and check to see how Santana is doing with her French fries. They are almost gone now but it's not the fries that catch my attention. Santana seems to be staring at me or rather my hands, my phone.

"Do you have plans for tonight?" She asks after she catches me catching her. She doesn't seem embarrassed or ashamed that I caught her looking at me. It's probably the alcohol.

"I do." I confirm.

"Oh." Her face drops and her chin tucks to her chest.

"Why?" I ask. She seems disappointed that I have plans.

"Nevermind. It's stupid." She mumbles and turns away from me.

"Hey." I rest my palm on her forearm. "Tell me. I'm sure it's not stupid."

She turns back to me. "I just thought maybe you were working tonight. And I could sit here and you would be there." She nods to a spot behind the bar. "But you're not working- wait are you working still?"

"Nope. All done for the night." I tell her with a small smile.

"Oh, right. Then nevermind. I'll just sit here be myself." She shrugs and goes back to eating her French fries. She looked so disappointed when she said that. So small and sad too. Maybe lonely is a more accurate term to describe her. And I know exactly what to do about it.

She finishes her fries a few minutes later. Out of the corner of my eye I see her look around like she isn't sure what to do. I twist my head around to catch her eye. "All done." She says it so quiet that I almost don't hear it.

"Okay. I have a question for you then." She nods. "Do you have any plans for the night?" She shakes her head. "Do you want to come with me?" I ask. She looks around the bar. I don't know why or what she is looking for. Santana bites her bottom lip between her teeth and gives me a sheepish nod. "Okay, great let's go. I have someone I want to introduce you to."

We both get off our barstools and I take her by the wrist and led her out of the bar.

* * *

We got out of the bar and onto the sidewalk before she asks. "Where are we going?"

I turn to her where she walks side by side with me. "You'll see." I can't help but smile at her curiosity.

We walk the rest of the way in silence. When we get to the door, I pull my keys out, and unlock it, and motion for her to enter first. "What is this?" Santana asks as soon as we are inside the door.

We are standing in the entrance of my apartment. My parents bought the building a few years after they bought the bar. The buildings sit on the same block, side by side, with parking lot and lawn in between the two. They divided the building into two apartments. One on the first floor and one on the second, which I live in.

There is a long hallway on the right and stairs to my apartment on the left. At the end of the hallway at the back of the building is a door to the basement.

I lean over and say into her ear. "I live here." I point up the stairs. She nods and starts up the stairs. I follow behind. She makes it up four or five steps before she stumble. Her hands hit the steps in front of her, holding herself up. Her ass in the air, in my face, as I stop behind her. I'm just going say it looks great in those tight black jeans that she is wearing.

I set my right hand on her back and climb a step so that I am next to her. Grabbing each shoulder I help Santana stand up straight. She looks over at me and smiles. "Thanks." She giggles.

"Let's get up the rest of the steps before you thank me." I say.

At the landing at the top of the stairs I unlock my apartment door. I push the door open and let Santana step in before me. Behind her, I step into the apartment and shut the door behind me and then flick the light on.

Lord Tubbington comes running over. Okay, well not running but walking as fast as he possibly can. Every time I come home he greets me at the door and rubs up against my ankles until I pick him up. But today he stops short. Probably because he knows that I'm not alone. He lets out a long meow.

"Holy shit." Santana says as she takes a step backwards. Directly into me. Her back into my front. "What is that?" She has a hand to her chest like Lord Tubbington scared her.

I chuckle. "That's my cat. Here." I gently wrap my hands around her biceps and pushes her to the side so I can step past her. I pick Lord Tubbington up. "This is who I wanted you to meet." I pet Lord Tubbington between the ears as I hold him against my body. "Santana, this is Lord Tubbington."

She looks at the cat and then back to me and then back to the cat. "Are you sure that that's a cat?"

I can't help but laugh. "Yes. I'm positive. Do you want to hold him?" Her eyes go wide and she shakes her head. "Okay." I turn and walk over to the couch. "You coming?" I hear her footsteps behind me a second later.

Once I sit on the couch Lord Tubbington curls up in my lap. Santana eyes me and the couch nervously. "Sit down, silly." I reach for the television remote on the coffee table in front of me. Santana sits down on the opposite end of the couch as me. I don't really know why. We sat side by side at the bar. But know it seems like she is afraid of me or something.

"I thought you had plans tonight?" She asks as I turn on the tv.

"I do." I swing my hand out in a sweeping motion. "This. Here. At home. Watching tv and spending time with Lord Tubbington- and you."

"Oh." She says with a shy smile.

"Do you want something to drink? Water or milk or maybe apple juice?" I offer. I know what she isn't getting. Alcohol. One because I think she has had enough for one day and two because I don't have any in my apartment.

"Water would be nice."

"Okay." I get up and hold Lord Tubbington out for her but she shakes her head so I set him on the middle couch cushion next to her.

In the kitchen I get two glasses and fill one with water and the other I fill halfway with apple juice.

Santana is watching whatever is on the tv when I get back. "Here ya go." I hand her the glass of water.

"Still serving me drinks even though we aren't at the bar."

"It's just in my nature, I guess." I shrug and sit down with my drink. "What do you want to watch?"

I see her turn towards me. "Your askin me? This is your house and you askin me?"

"Well, yeah." I don't see what the problem is. "I don't want to watch something that you hate or can't stand or something like that. You are a guest in my house and I just want to make you feel welcomed." I pet Lord Tubbington idly.

She looks at me like I have two heads. "You're like the nicest person I've ever met."

"Oh, I doubt that." I turn my attention back to the tv.

Santana doesn't say anything in return and I think that's the end of that. But, a few seconds later, I feel her hand on top of mine on top of Lord Tubbington's back. Slowly, I turn to look at her.

"I'm serious." She whispers and squeezes my hand.

"Okay." I nod frantically, like an idiot.

It's quiet for a long time after that. The sound of the tv playing offers the only noise in the room. At some point Lord Tubbington jumps off the couch and wanders over to his bed for the night.

Every once and a while a check on Santana but she is usually eyes forward towards the television. A few times she catches me looking, though, I smile at her and she smiles back before we both go back to watching tv.

It's quiet but not awkward or uncomfortable.

The late local news comes on and I turn to Santana. I said I was going to go to bed early tonight and if I want to stick to that I better go now. However, I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to ask Santana to leave. It's late and she has been drinking. I don't want her mother nagging her again but that sounds like it will happen if she goes home or not.

The decision is made for me though. When I look over Santana is asleep her mouth open slightly and her head resting against the back of the couch. It's cute and it brings a smile to my face. It's kind of alarming, I think. All the things that she does that I think are cute but I can't help it.

I shut the tv off and get up. My mission is to get a blanket and a pillow and bring them back to the couch. When I come back Santana is slumped over a little bit. I shake my head.

I'm not sure how I'm going to go about this but I guess I just have to do it. I put the pillow down on the end of the couch where I was sitting. Next, I go over to Santana and look her up and down for a minute. She's still wearing her tennis shoe so I untie them and pull them off her feet. She grumbles something intelligibly.

I slide my hands up and under her armpits as innocently as possible. I lift her up and lay her down on her back as gently as possible. Her head on the pillow. When I let go she shifts into her side and curls up into a little ball. And again, it's really cute. I grab the blanket and drape it over her. I tuck the back in around her so it doesn't slip off of her and off the couch.

I stand up straight and let out a sigh just looking at the girl sleeping on my couch. I grab the two empty glasses on the coffee table and bring them into the kitchen and put them in the sink. They can wait until tomorrow to be rinsed and cleaned, I don't want to wake Santana.

I go back to the couch to make sure she is still sleeping and she is. I bend at the waist and run a hand through her hair pushing it back away from her face. My lips find her temple and press a kiss to the skin there. "Sleep well." I whisper before standing and leaving the room. I shut the light off and head for my bedroom.


	7. Chapter 7

**Double bonus chapter this week. Cuz it's a short one. From Santana's point of view. A little bit of insight into Santana's world. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Santana

I wake up and without opening my eyes everything seems nice, and warm, and cozy, and good. But, as the seconds pass, something feels off. I wiggle around a little. This doesn't feel like my bed. Actually, this doesn't feel like a bed at all.

I feel around and it's definitely not my bed that I am lying on. It's a couch. But why would I be sleeping on the couch. That doesn't make any sense. Why would I sleep on the couch when I could just go upstairs and sleep in my bed.

I crack an eye open to look around and see if that will give me any clues.

Crap, this isn't my house at all. I don't really recognize anything either. I don't know where I am. I open my other eye and lift my head off of, I look down, the pillow that my head was resting on.

There's a tv across the room from me and a coffee table about two feet in front of the couch that I am lying on. I don't really recognize anything. This place seem familiar but I don't know where I am. I think, maybe, I need to stop drinking so much.

I throw the blanket that is covering my body off. When I look down the length of my body, thankfully, I am fully clothed. That's good. I go to sit up and something catches my eye. I turn to my right and there is a large cat sitting on top of the coffee table. My hand goes over my mouth and I gasp at the sight. This thing is huge and it's just staring at me. It looks like it wants to eat me. But, I really have no idea what it wants. The cat lets out a loud meow. I lean forward and put my finger to my lip and shush the cat. I don't know why though. I don't know what time it is and I don't know if there is someone else sleeping somewhere in the room. I don't know anything.

I sit up and look around the room. It's a wide open floor plan. I appear to be in the living room area and can see the kitchen from here. It's nice. Nothing like the huge house that I live in but whoever lives here has a reasonably nice place. It has a homey feel. Warm and inviting. Maybe that's why, when I woke up, I felt warm and cozy and overall just good.

It's a shame that the only thing my mind is telling me to do is leave. Run. Get out of here.

I stand and notice that there aren't shoe on my feet. I don't remember taking them off. Then again I don't remember much of last night. I spot my shoes right next to the couch and sit back down to put them on. I can feel the cat staring at me as I tie my shoes. I look up when I am done and glare at the damn thing.

I stand again and look around. There doesn't seem to be anybody here. I can see a shut door, though, and assume that it is the bedroom and that whoever lives here was nice enough to let me sleep it off in relative peace.

I wonder what happened and how I got here, but guess that I probably fell asleep, and that was that. It's happened before, in college. I would go out at night, get drunk, pass out, and not really remember much the next day. Whether it was due to the alcohol or me purposely blocking it out, I don't know.

The walk to the front door is short. I unlock the door and open it. I turn to step out and the cat is standing there now, staring up at me. It's now that I remember what happened last night. Or parts of what happened last night. I remember standing in this exact spot last night and that cat staring up at me just like it is doing again right now.

Brittany.

I shut the door as quickly and quietly as possible. That cat is Brittany's cat. I can't remember it's name but it's something long. I know that. This apartment is Brittany's apartment. That couch is Brittany's couch. The person sleeping behind that bedroom door is Brittany.

I smile a little, standing at the top of the stairs. I remember her bringing me here after I showed up at the bar. After she got something for me to eat and made me eat it. We sat on the couch and watched tv and played with the cat. A strange feeling tingles through my body. I'm not sure what it is. Gratitude maybe.

I sneak down the stairs as quietly as possible. Only a few of them creak under my weight. I feel lucky but I'm not sure why. And I definitely don't know why I showed up at the bar last night. I don't know why I agreed to come home with Brittany last night, either. Although, I don't think I knew where she was taking me when we left the bar. I don't know why I went so willingly, either. She's basically a stranger. That probably wasn't my smartest decision but I don't think Brittany would cause me any harm.

I push the door open and step out into the early morning sun. When I look to my right I see the front of the bar and walk in that direction. I vaguely remember Brittany saying once that she lived next door.

As I'm walking I notice my car in the parking lot. Perfect. But, do I have my keys. I pat my pockets. In my right front pocket is my phone and in my left I find my keys. I pull them out and hurry over to my car.

I laugh a little cuz my car has been sitting in the parking lot of the bar since Friday night. It is now Sunday morning. Man, that's terrible. I'm a hot damn mess.

The car starts up when I turn the ignition. Some Bon Jovi blares out of the speakers. I punch the dial on the radio to kill the noise. It just adds to the headache that I can already feel coming on.

Once it's quiet I put the car in gear and start my drive home. I'm sure my mom will be thrilled to see my rolling in at this hour.

* * *

I park the car in the driveway when I get home. After shutting off the engine, I rest my forehead on the steering wheel dreading going in the house. I know mom will be awake. It's after eight. I know she will be up and reading the paper. Hopefully, I can sneak in without her hearing me.

I slide out of the car and shut the door. If I go in the front door the odds of my mom seeing or hearing me are less. I make it inside and shut the door without a sound. I stop and listen to see if I can hear my mom. I don't hear anything so I take a few tentative steps toward the stairs. The hardest part is next because from the dining room table you can just barely see the stairs.

I put my foot on the bottom step and I still don't hear anything. I'm feeling good about this. I take the second step- and nothing. The third.

"Santana." My mother's voice booms through the house. I stop and turn around. I know I can't just run off. That would be worse.

"Yes mom." I say turning towards her and trying to look as innocent as possible. Not that I did anything wrong.

"Where have you been?" She asks. Cutting right to the chase I see.

"I stayed the night at a friend's house." I tell her and it's not a lie. Well, friend might be a generous word. Brittany isn't really my friend. I think she is just someone who took pity on me and took in a hot mess of a girl so I didn't end up dead on the side of the road or something.

"Really? Does this _friend_ happen to be a female, by any chance?" She lowers the paper and glares over the top of it at me.

"She is. What does that have to do with anything?" I really don't know why it matters.

"Then I'm guessing that more than _friendly_ things went on with you and your _friend_." She raises an eyebrow in association with her lewd comment.

That's it. I've had enough already. I take a step into the kitchen. "You know what? Just because I am gay doesn't mean that I sleep with every girl that I come into contact with."

"Don't raise your voice with me, Santana. And I didn't say that." She flattens the paper out on the table. "I'm just saying you have been spending a lot of time 'out' in the last couple of weeks. I'm guessing that _one _girl has something to do with it. And, as far as, what you just said I should hope that you have more self-esteem than that to be out there sleeping around. I raised you better than that." She finishes her little speech and raises the paper again but is still looking at me like I have disappointed her. And I guess I probably have.

"There are no girls. For your information. I stayed at a female friends house last night and nothing happened. And that's the truth. I'm going upstairs to take a shower." I inform my mother.

"Fine." I turn for the stairs, again. "And, Santana." I stop and turn back to face my mom. "I'm going to 10 am church and I expect you to be ready to go at 9:30." She says through her paper without even looking at me.

I throw my hands in the air. I know I can't argue with her. "Fine." I groan and stomp up the stairs.

I don't understand why she doesn't believe me. Like ever. Not just with this, but with other things, as well.

I will go to church with my mom just to humor her. It's not that I don't believe in god or religion or anything like that it's just that the Catholic church doesn't take too kindly to people like me. In my opinion, it's just a bunch of old guys that are stuck in their old ways.

I slip into my room and search out a bottle of Advil for my headache, then onto finding something to where to church. After I find a nice, wholesome dress appropriate for church and head across the hall to the bathroom to take a shower.

* * *

I go to church and sit with my mother through mass. It passes as a usual mass would. I don't feel out of place. I've been coming to church since I was a baby with my parents. We are walking back to the car after mass when my mom says that we are going out for lunch.

"Okay." I agree. Again, it's not like I have a choice. We rode in the same vehicle and there's no way in hell I'm walking home.

"How's Breadstix sound?" She asks as she unlocks the car doors.

"Great." I love Breadstix, so that's a plus. This day won't be complete shit after all. I, at least, get a awesomely delicious meal out of it. And mom will probably pay too. Even better.

We are sitting across from each other in one of the many booths. I am feasting on a breadstick when mom clears her throat. I look up from where I was studying the scratches in the table. "What?" I say around a mouthful of breadstick.

"Santana." My mother sighs. "Don't talk with food in your mouth." She scolds me. "I wish you would take yourself more seriously. You're not a kid anymore."

"I am serious." I argue. Because, yes, I am serious, just not all of the time like her. I don't want to be old and boring. Not yet, at least.

"No. When are you going to grow up and take responsibility for your life?"

"I am responsible."

"No. Santana you're not. You are 23 years old and still live at home. You spend your whole weekend out partying or whatever it is that you do. You don't come home at night or stay out until all hours of the early morning."

"That's not true."

"Yes. It is. Santana you need to get your shit together. And soon. In a short few years, I will be retiring, and you will be taking over my business. And the sooner you get your life in order the better. I am not saying this stuff just because. I am saying this because you need to get it together."

"Mom, I haven't even been out of college for a full year yet. I live at home because I can't afford to move out. College isn't exactly cheap. And I know you and dad paid for half of it but I still have a lot of debt. And I'm working on it. I don't know what more you want from me."

"How about you not going out all of the time and maybe having a serious relationship?" She looks at me and I can see the challenging look in her eyes.

I want to argue with that but I don't know if I can. She does have a point. Minus, all the not having any money and taking over the insurance business crap, she is right. I am grown up but I don't always act like it. Especially, away from work. I could be more responsible and I have been spending a lot of time drinking but that's mostly because she has been nagging me about all of my failures and disappointments, kinda like she is doing right now.

But I'm young still and can do whatever I want. I'm an adult and my mommy can't tell me what to do.

"Yeah well. What can I say? Sorry I'm not perfect." I shrug nonchalantly.

My mom sighs. "Santana." She says it like she doesn't know what else to do with me. She then looks away from me and out the window.

I don't know what more she wants from me, well, other than the things she just mentioned. But, come on, that's not even that bad. I have my shit pretty fucking well together for a 23 year old. I have a job. I have a future at that job. I have a roof over my head. I have more than a lot of people at my age do.

And sure, maybe, I still live and home and I am not in a relationship but so what. A lot of people aren't.

She should be glad that I went to college and that I agreed to go into the insurance business and that I am taking over for her so that she can retire early. She should be glad that I live at home and give her something to do. Cuz if I wasn't around she wouldn't have anyone to keep track of or criticize. She should be thanking me for keeping her life interesting.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Unknown

I wake up and it's quiet. It's quiet outside. It's quiet inside in my room. And from what I can tell it's quiet in the rest of my apartment, as well. I roll over and look at the clock. 9:38. I didn't mean to sleep that late. I really must have been tired.

I throw the cover off and grab a sweatshirt and pull it on over my t-shirt. I don't hear the tv or anything from the living room and it makes me nervous. I slept late so maybe Santana is still asleep too.

I go over and open the door to my bedroom. It _is_ quiet. Almost eerily so. I look around but don't see anything. All I can see is the back of the couch from here. I go over to peek over the back side of the couch, so that I don't scare Santana, or wake her if she is sleeping.

I rest my hands on the back of the couch and peek over the side and my heart sinks. Santana's not there. Just the blanket and the pillow lay on the couch. I look up and Lord Tubbington jumps up on the coffee table. He looks at me with his head tilted to the side. He meows and I feel like he is trying to tell me something. If only cats could talk.

Maybe she had to use the bathroom. It's a stupid thought but I hurry over to the bathroom and realize that the door is wide open. My heart sinks again. I look around the room. Nothing. It sinks again. She's not here. She left.

I'm sad because I had it all planned out in my head. I would wake up and Santana would either already be awake or I would wake her up. Then I would ask her if she wanted breakfast and then I was going to cook breakfast for the both of us. And after breakfast we would spend the whole day together doing whatever. It was so perfect even though it wasn't much of a plan.

I go over and plop down on the couch. It's cold. How long ago did she leave? Was it this morning or in the middle of the night? I never heard a thing. Was I wrong to just let her stay her overnight? Should I have woken her up and asked her if she wanted to go home?

Maybe I'm being too forward. We hardly know each other. Was it wrong to have her come over last night to begin with. I'm so confused right now.

Do I have it all wrong? I mean I was just being nice and letting Santana stay here but maybe I shouldn't have. Maybe that's not what she wanted.

We hardly know each other but, somehow, I feel like we do. I can't explain it quite yet. I was hoping that today would change that and we could get to know each other without the bar or the alcohol. Maybe it was stupid to think that she would still be here this morning or that we could spend the day together. I'm sure she is a busy person and has things to do today. Wait…

I jump up from the couch and run over to the window and look out. The little bit of hope that I had is gone completely and my heart sinks again. Her car is gone from the parking lot of the bar.

There is absolutely no sign of her. There is no sign that she was even here. Was it all a very elaborate dream. Did I dream that last night happened and in actuality it didn't really happen. I go back over to the couch. The pillow and blanket are evidence that she was actually here but I'm having a hard time believing it.

I groan and lay down on the couch. In rub my face into the pillow in frustration. I stop when I take a breath in. It smells like her. She was actually here. I didn't dream it.

Lord Tubbington meows at me. I lift my head from the pillow. "You want breakfast buddy?"

He meows again.

"Okay." I lift myself off of the couch and get his food from under the sink and fill his dish. "There ya go. Enjoy." He attacks his food dish like he hasn't eaten in days and it makes me smile.

Over my very boring breakfast of Wheaties and orange juice I plan out my day. Breakfast, go for a run, shower, then I don't know. Maybe I can go to a movie or something. My day suddenly seems a lot less exciting than I thought it would be.

* * *

It's hump day. I love hump day just because I can say hump day and get away with it. It's weird, I know.

There's a group of five young guys in the bar right now. I didn't believe that they were 21 when they asked for a pitcher of beer so I made them all pull out their ids. Guess I was wrong. They are all 21 and some even older.

I said my apologizes and told them it was because they are good looking and looked really young. Which may not have been the smartest thing to say because for the whole hour that they have been in her they keep looking over in my direction and giving me weird little smiles.

Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. It is what it is and they can do whatever they want but what they don't know is that none of them stands a chance.

"Britt, those guys keep looking over here." Jesse leans in and whispers in my ear.

"I'm aware."

"Did something happen that I don't know about?" He asks. He takes a step back because really there is no reason for him to be that close to me anymore.

"I may or may not have said something about them being young and good looking." I shrug it off. "Just a slip of the tongue. It's not like they aren't but- I don't know. I guess they feel the need to get my attention now."

"Do you want me to say something?" He asks. The thing about Jesse is that he might not be the greatest guy in terms of what he does but he is loyal to his friends and family and will stand up for them, no matter what.

"No. It's fine, Jesse. Just let them play. It's not like I'm interested in any of them."

He nods. "Someone else?" He asks with a quirk of the eyebrow.

"Someone else what?" The guy confuses me sometimes with the way that he talks.

"Are you interested in someone else? I mean, if you're not even entertaining the idea of those very good looking guys. Your like-" He trails off and look up to the ceiling like the words he wants are hanging from the ceiling panels. "You won't even look in their direction. And you and I both know that flirting with them will get you better tips. At the very least. And-" He waves his hand in front of my body, looking me up and down. "-nothing."

"No." It might be a lie. I don't know what I mean even saying no to.

"Then what is it?"

The bell above the door rings as it swings open and both Jesse and I look over to see who it is.

I smile when I see her. Everything stop for a moment. I stop wiping the glass in my hand. Jesse stops next to me. All the noise in the room seems to cease. All I can focus on is her.

Jesse's voice is low and whispered when he speaks next to me. It brings me out of my reverie. "Shit, Britt. You gotta be fucking kidding me."

Santana looks around the bar before she spots me. She smiles when she sees me. It's not fake or forced maybe a little shy though. She goes over to her usually spot and sits down. I take a step to go over there but Jesse's hand wrapped around my wrist stops me.

"Are you serious, Brittany?" He looks between her and I.

I lock eyes with him. "About what?"

"Santana Lopez." It's like he is in shock or something.

"Oh, you know her?" I'm excited that Jesse might know Santana. Maybe he can tell me a few things about her. I am desperate to learn anything about her at this point.

"Yeah, I know her. Or I know of her. We were in the same class in high school."

"Ah, sweet." I cheer inwardly. Maybe a little outwardly too.

"No, not sweet. She's a big bitch. Please, tell me that you just have like a crush on her and that it will pass."

"I don't know." I shrug and he drops his hand from my arm. I won't lie. I'm pretty sure that it isn't just a crush but I don't know what it is yet.

"I can't believe this." He runs his hands through his hair and turns away from me. I guess that strange conversation is over.

I turn and smile because she is sitting there hands folded on the bar watching me. I go over to her. "Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in." I tilt my head to the side and put my pointer finger on my chin. "What day is it?"

"Uh- Wednesday." Santana answers.

"Hmm. That's strange. I would have thought that it was a Friday or Saturday."

"Why?"

"Because those are the only days you've ever come in here." I say it and she ducks her chin to her chest immediately.

"Yeah- uh-

I cut whatever she was going to say off. "I'm kidding."

She looks up, I think to make sure that I actually am kidding. "Oh." She breathes.

I smile. She smiles. It's a beautiful smile. "You should smile more." It slips out of my mouth before I can stop it.

Santana's eyes widen and she looks away from me. "Sorry." I mumble. "Sooo- can I get you something to drink?"

I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have said that and know I've embarrassed her. I can't help it though. It's like my brain doesn't work properly when she is around. I think back to Saturday night. I was just so excited that she was at my apartment and that I got to introduce her to Lord Tubbington. I wasn't even thinking and then I woke up on Sunday and she was gone.

My shoulders sag a little cuz I remember how disappointed I was then but she is here now, in front of me, so I can't really be too sad about it.

"You guys have Mountain Dew?" She asks and it pulls me from my thoughts.

"Yep."

She is still looking over in Jesse's direction though. "I'll have a glass then."

"Okay, be right back." I'm slightly surprised. The only thing she has ever wanted when she has come in is alcohol. I don't know what to think that she isn't having any right now.

I get the drink and had back over towards Santana. She is watching the tv now. I look up the news is on. "So, what brings you in on a Wednesday evening?" I ask as I set her Mountain Dew in front of her. She takes the glass right away and takes a big drink. She sets the glass down on the bar and it is half empty already. "Whoa, thirsty?"

She shakes her head. "Look Brittany." I watch as she fidgets on her barstool. Playing with her fingers nervously. "I came here today-" She looks around nervously and lowers her voice to a whisper. "I want to apologize-" I can barely hear her over the noise in the bar. "-for the other day."

"For what?" I don't know what she feels that she needs to apologize for.

"For you having to put up with my crap. It's wasn't fair to you. I should have gone home on Saturday night. And then I fell asleep on your couch. You should have woken me up and sent me home. You didn't have to let me stay at your place. Although, I was thankful that you let me. But, I should have taken responsibility for myself. Christ, that's what my mother keeps telling me and maybe I should actually listen to her for once. I'm sorry that you had to take care of me. I didn't mean to be a burden. That's why I left as soon as I woke up." She stops and takes another big gulp of her soda.

I'm about to say something but she continues. "At first I didn't know where I was but then as I was leaving and saw your cat and remembered just like that. I remembered almost everything but that didn't matter. I just had to leave. I guess I'm sorry for that too. I should have told you I was leaving or waited until you woke up and then left. I just freaked out and had to go. So thank you and I'm sorry."

"Wow. Did you plan that speech in your head?" I laugh.

"Yes." She admits with a shrug.

"Even better." I chuckle a little more. She's just so adorable.

"Stop making fun of me. I'm serious." Santana looks away from me. I watch as her eyes scan the bar. They stop on the group of guys. "Wait. Are those guys staring at us? Do you think they heard what I said? God, I'm such an idiot. I shouldn't have even come here today. Look, I'm sorry, I gotta go." She says in a rush and stands up from her barstool.

"Wait. Stop." I throw my hands out in front of me. She stops and raising an eyebrow at me waiting for me to continue. "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I made fun of you just now. I get what you are saying but you don't need to apologize for anything." She gives me that cute confused look, her face all scrunched up like that. "Sit down." She doesn't. "Please." I fold my hands together and pout out my bottom lip.

That does it.

Santana sits down on the stool again. As she settles she looks over to her right at the five guys. I see one of them wink at her. She turns back to me. "Disgusting." She comments and I laugh.

"FYI, they are looking at me. I may have told them, when they came in, that they were good looking young men. I realize now that was an error on my part. But, yeah, that was pretty gross that that guy just winked at you."

Her eyes widen comically. "They've been eyeing me all evening." I lean in a little closer to her and whisper. "What they don't know is that none of them stands a chance." I smirk and see the smile that etches it's way across her face.

"And about the other day- I don't want you to feel bad or anything. I invited you over and you fell asleep. Simple as that." Although, I don't really think it's as simple as that anymore. I think things are starting to get a little more complicated with me and her.

"Oh." Santana pauses and looks around the bar again. "Alright. But I shouldn't have left like that."

"No, you shouldn't have because-" I stop and debate whether I should say what I'm about to say or not. I already stuck my foot in my mouth with the whole you should smile more thing. Fuck it. "-I was going to offer to make you breakfast and then ask if you wanted to hang out."

She scrunches her face up. "Really?"

I nod. "Yep."

"Oh." She seems a little shocked at my revelation.

"So, that's settled now?" I ask.

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugs.

"Good. Now on to more important matters." I announce loud and proud, changing subjects.

"Like what?"

"Like, if you are going to keep coming here and like, if sometimes I want to hang out and like, other stuff, that maybe we should exchange phone numbers." I ramble.

She narrows her eyes at me. I think she is thinking about what I am saying or what I am trying to say. Maybe she doesn't understand what I am saying. I'm about to explain myself further when she speaks up. "Brittany, are you asking for my phone number?"

I shrug cuz duh. "Yes."

"I don't know. We don't really know too much about each other and I don't give my phone number out to strangers. I don't think it's good idea." Santana tells me.

"Come on." I can tell she is teasing me. "Please." I can't believe I am actually begging for her phone number.

"Well-" She stands up and reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone. "Okay." I watch as her thumb swipes over the screen a few times. "Put your number in and I will send you a text or something and then you will have my number too."

"Okay." I can't help the smile on my face, or the little bouncing I do up and down, as she hands me her phone.

"So, I guess we are sorta friends now, aren't we?" She asks.

I look up from the phone when I am done and hand it back to her. Santana is smiling and waiting for my answer. "Yep. Friends." I agree and nods enthusiastically.

"Okay." She pockets her phone. "Great."

Santana looks around the bar again. I follow her as she meets eyes with one of those 'good looking' guys. He smiles at her and she winks and waves at him. "What are you doing?" I whisper.

"Messing with that bastards head." She turns back to me. "He deserves it." She reaches out and takes the glass of Mountain Dew and finishes it off. "I'm gonna go now. I told my mom I would be home. Family dinner tonight. But I will see you soon. Okay?"

I nod. "Yeah. Great." I'm just excited at the prospect of 'seeing her soon'.

She leans across the bar towards me, her hand coming to rest on my forearm. My heart starts beating a little faster. She squeezes my arm with her hand and whispers. "Watch this."

She gets up off the barstools and walks towards the door. On the way she stops at the table with the five guys at it. She taps one of them on the shoulder, the one she just winked and waved at a few seconds ago, and he turns to face her. She puts a hand on his upper back between his shoulder blades. I can see him smile as she pulls him towards her body. She leans in and whispers something in his ear. Next, I watch as his face falls and she pulls back and nods slightly. Then she turns and points over her shoulder at me. I watch as his eyes follow where she is pointing. I know what she is doing even though I don't know what she said to the man and decide to play along. I smile my biggest, brightest smile and wave at her.

His face is blank at first but then his lips turn into a scowl as she waves back at me. I see her say something else to him and then step away and is out the front door in the next second. I watch until the door swings shut and then turn back to him. He is giving me quite an intense stare. I just shrug and look away. I grab my towel and start wiping down the bar where Santana was sitting. I just hope that guy isn't the one from his group who comes to get more beer for him and his buddies.

I can't really care too much, though. A stupid smile graces my face as I think of the whole thing over and over again. I wonder what she said to him but it really doesn't matter because whatever it was it worked. The guy finishes his drink and leaves before the rest of this buddies.

* * *

It's after midnight when I go into the kitchen. It's dark except for the one light to guide the way. It's quiet but for the hum of the coolers. It's kind of peaceful actually. Anyway, I go through the kitchen til I get to the break room.

I reach into my bag to grab my phone and check if there are any messages. I pull it out and click the screen. There are three text messages. One is from my mom asking me to come into work a few minutes early tomorrow. The next is from Mike saying that it was great to see me the other day and that we should hang out soon. And the third is a number that I don't recognize. So I open it to see what it says.

_This funny thing happened to me today. Some bartender chick asked me for my phone number- and I gave it to her. -Santana_

The smile on my face probably makes me look like a crazy person. The first thing I think is that her text is super cute. The next thing I do is save the number under her name. I'd send a text back but it's late and I don't want to wake her if she is sleeping. I put my phone back in my bag and head back out to the bar.

There are two older guys sitting at the bar still. I told Jesse he cold go home at midnight so it's just me for the rest of the night. Hopefully, these guys will leave before two and I can close early.

I start the dishwasher that washes the glasses and wait for it to get done to dry them. My two buddies don't seem to be bothered that I am cleaning instead of playing them an attention. Which is great for me because as soon as they leave I can get out of here.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Not So Strangers Anymore

Two days pass and I don't hear anything from or see Santana. But, it's Friday night again, and I'm hoping, like the last few weeks, she will show up at the bar again tonight. But, maybe with less alcohol involved. It's not my place, but I think that Santana drinks too much, but like I said, it's not my place. I am the bartender and it is my job to serve the drinks not advise people on their drinking habits.

It's crazy busy tonight. I don't know why but the dining room is packed and so is the bar. Someone said that there is a basketball tournament in town this weekend so that might have something to do with it. People coming in from out of town to watch their kids play basketball. It makes sense but it also means that it will be a busy weekend for us. The more the merrier, I say. It's good for business, after all.

I've been running around the bar the whole time. I have been here over two hours already. I'm wiping down the bar after a couple just got up and left. Someone pulls out one of the barstools that was previously occupied. Out of the corner of my eye I see the person sit down but I'm too busy to look to see what the person looks like.

After I wipe off the counter, I start stacking the glasses that just got done in the dishwasher. We have been washing glasses constantly tonight.

A 'hey stranger' gets me to look up from what I am doing. "Oh, Santana, I didn't see you sitting there."

"Yeah, well, you look pretty busy."

"Yeah, it's crazy tonight. You want something to drink?"

"Yeah, um Captain and Coke. Please." Santana folds her hands and sets him on the bar top, to wait patiently.

"Okay." First, I throw some ice into a glass and then grab the bottle of Captain Morgan and pour some into the glass and then add the Coke. "There ya go."

"Thanks." Santana gives my a grateful smile.

"So, you're a little later than usual." Not that I have been keeping track of what days and times she shows up. Because I totally have.

I go to stack the rest of the glass. "I had dinner with the 'rents. My mom's been on my ass about being more responsible and being a grown up and not going out all the time. So, I figured, I'd make an appearance at home, have dinner with my mom and dad, and then go out."

"Hmm. Right." Someone waves me down from a few seats over. "I'll be back." I mumble and go over to the guy that waved me down. "What can I get ya?"

"Four Buds, please." He says.

"Okay." I turn around and open the cooler on the back wall of the bar and pull four bottles of beer out and turn back to hand them to him.

"Thanks." He pays me and walks off into the crowd.

"Can I get a refill?" A clearly drunk woman shakes her glass in my face. Rude.

"Sure. What did you have?"

"I don remember." The woman's words slur together. "Maybe Vodka Cr'nberry."

"Okay." I'll go with that. I don't have time to figure out what the woman ordered originally. If she says Vodka Cranberry, then Vodka Cranberry it is. I refill the woman's drink and hand it back to her and she hands me a five and walks away.

The whole night has been like this. The bar is standing room only. People just keep coming up to me and asking for a drink or a refill. I haven't even had a chance to have a conversation with anybody. Even the regulars left once it started to fill up when they couldn't talk to each other without yelling.

When I finally make it back over to Santana, at the end of the bar, I see that her drink is almost gone. Either, I've been gone way longer than I thought or she downed that drink really fast. I did have to fill four more drinks before I made my way back so…

"Almost done?" I ask and I think I scared her because I see her flinch the second before she turns away from the college basketball game on tv to me.

"Yeah, can I have another?"

I nod and mix her another drink. I swap out the two glasses and glance up at the game she is watching. "Good game?"

"Yeah, actually, it's really close. There have been like eight different lead changes and five ties." She says without looking away from the tv.

It must really be a good game then. I don't know that much about basketball other then one team runs down the court and scores and then the other team gets the ball and runs down the court and scores. I'm sure there's more to it than that but I sure as hell don't know what.

"You like basketball then?" I can only assume with the way her eyes are glued to the tv.

Santana shrugs. "Yeah, I guess." She looks down to the bar and picks up her drink and her attention goes back to the game, immediately, as she takes a drink. "It's March Madness, how can you not it like?"

I don't know. That's a good question. I don't really like it. But, I suppose that I don't know enough about March Madness to even be able to like it, so I guess I'm not the best person to be asking.

"I don't know. I don't really know anything about basketball. You might want to ask someone else."

She turns her head. It's like it's slow motion. Her eyes narrow as she searches my face. Probably to see if I'm lying or not. She leans forward slightly and just stares. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah." I say uneasily.

"Then I am going to have to school you on basketball because that is just not acceptable." She says and I think she is serious. She is back to watching the game.

"Uh- okay. While I have a second I have one question for you."

"Okay. Shoot." She says not turning away from the tv.

"Um, what did- what did-"

Santana turns to me and raises an eyebrow. "Sp-sp-sp-spit it out."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah. Yeah. Make fun of me."

She just shrugs.

"Okay. What did you- tell that guy?"

Santana pulls that cute confused scrunchy face. "What guy? When?"

I wring my hands together. What is this? Nerves? I'm not sure. I just want to find out what she told that guy. "The other day, Wednesday, when you were leaving."

"Oh." She nods. "Yeah." She smirks and takes a gulp of her drink. "I just told him that he better stop hitting on my girlfriend or I would kick his ass."

"What?" I gasp. She didn't actually say that, did she?

"Yeah. It's nothing." She shrugs. "I was just messin' with the fucker."

"You're kidding right?"

Santana turns back to the game on tv. "No. Serious as a heart attack. That's actually what I said to that guy. He deserved it, after looking at you like a piece of meat." She takes another drink of her Captain and Coke.

I'm speechless. I can't believe it. Really. I don't know what to say.

There is another person flagging me down and I have to go. I walk away from the amazing dark-haired Latina over to an older gentlemen. I stand in front of him.

He eyes me curiously. "Can I get three more?" He says.

I look down to the glasses on the bar top, in front of him, and back up to meet his eyes. "Uh-"

"Three Gin and Tonic's."

"Right." I grab up the glasses and start on the drinks. I realize now that I made this man's drinks earlier in the night. And for him to have to tell me what it was that he wanted again is kind of embarrassing. I am usually on top of that sort of thing. I know drinks and I know people and what they ordered.

But, right now, I am off. Obviously. I blame Santana and what she said. I shouldn't have asked her what she told that guy but my curiosity got the better of me. I had to know. I didn't know that what she said would leave me in such a weird state.

I mix his drinks and hand them back to him. "There ya go. Enjoy." I smile my best, politest smile. I want to say I'm sorry for my weirdness but I think that would make it more weird. I gotta get me shit together and be professional.

The hours pass quickly and I get Santana a few more drinks, maybe three, but most of my night is spent serving other customers. Which is fine, I guess, but I just want to talk to her. Just to have a conversation about nothing in particular.

I do have a ton of questions that I want to ask her. Now that we are friends, I want to know everything about her. But, that won't be happening tonight.

It's not until after midnight when it starts to quiet down.

"Hey, Ms. Bartender. You gonna give me a ride home tonight?" She's drunk. I know. First of all, because she only ever calls me Ms. Bartender when she is drunk. Second, it's the way she says it. It's light and easy and like she isn't thinking about how it might sound. She has lost that self-control to filter everything that she is saying or doing.

"You want me to drive you to your house?" I ask in confusion. I'm not entirely sure what she means. I did drive her home the last time she came in and got drunk.

"Or to your house." She suggests wryly.

"Are you sure?" I ask cuz I'm not really sure myself. "I mean you can stay over if you want but I can totally bring you home or call you a cab."

"No cab. No home." She shakes her head. She really doesn't like to go home after a night of drinking. I'm guessing from what she told me the night that I dropped her off that it has something to do with her mom.

I sigh. "Okay. You can come over after work." It's not that I don't want Santana to come over. Cuz I totally do. But, it's just that I feel like I am the excuse that she uses for not going home and I don't want to be anyone's excuse for anything.

* * *

"Ready to go?" I tap Santana on the shoulder. She has her head resting on the top of the bar. I know she's not asleep because her eyes are open and she has been watching me as I cleaned up for the night. I even checked twice to see if she was asleep or not. But, she assured me that she was just resting her head.

Santana picks her head up off the bar and stands up. "Yep." She takes a wobbly step towards me as I round the end of the bar.

"Whoa." I say and put my hand on her shoulder to steady her. "You okay there?"

"All good in the hood." She giggles.

I scrunch my nose up. "That's terrible."

"No, it's not. I'm ready for my ride."

"Sorry to disappoint but we are walking." I nod towards the door and start walking.

Santana walks next to me. She stumbles into one of the table and I stop. She looks over at me. "What?"

An idea pops into my head as she stands there with one hand on the table holding herself up. "Here." I motion to my back. "Hop on." She looks at me with that cute confused scrunched up face. "You're gonna get your ride after all."

"Sweet."

I turn around and she clumsily jumps on my back. Good thing she is small and doesn't weigh a lot because if she did we both would probably be on the ground right now. With her front pressed into my back she wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. Her hands hanging clasped together in front of my chest. I put my hands under the backs of her thighs to hold her up. "Ready?"

"Yeah." She breathes into my left ear and it sends a shiver through my whole body. I grab on to her legs tighter just so I don't drop her.

I make it out the front door and down the steps okay. That was probably the hardest part actually. Walking down the sidewalk with her on my back is actually pretty easy. Easier than I thought it was going to be, actually.

But, then we get to my building and I need to unlock the door. That's a problem. The keys are in my front pants pocket and I really don't want to have to put Santana down and fish out the keys and open the door. "I have to unlock the door but the keys are in my pocket. I'm gonna put you down, okay?"

"No." Her arms and legs tighten around me. Another shiver runs through my body.

I chuckle somewhat nervously. "Okay, but how am I going to open the door?"

"I'll do it. What pocket your keys in?" She slurs.

I'm not sure how this is doing to work or what she thinks she is going to do, but I am interested to see. "Front right of my jeans."

"Mkay." I see her fingers unlatch and her left arm wraps around my neck to hold on, the other hand glides over my stomach, and I suck in a sharp breath. I feel her finger searching around for the top of my pocket.

"Santana." I don't know if I can handle her hands on me like this.

"Almost." She breathes.

Her fingers plunge into my pocket. They curl and then they pull out. Another shiver. She dangles the keys in front of my face. "Ta da. Just like magic."

"Not quite, but good work. Now hold on." I readjust my grip.

I grab the keys out of her hand and it goes to wrap around my neck with the other one. I smash the key into the lock and turn it and push the door open with one hand. The other still holding her up.

I manage to shuffle into the building and kick the door shut behind me. Both my hands holding her up again. I look up at the steps. This might be a little more difficult.

Climbing the stairs is actually easier than going down the three at the bar. I can lean into them and not worry about falling.

"This is fun." She giggles in my ear. I nod because it is fun, but I need to keep my concentration. It would be, not as fun, if we fell down the stairs. We reach my apartment door and I pull my hand from behind me to unlock the door. It swings open and I step inside and, again, kick it shut.

I quickly walk over to the couch, avoiding stepping on Lord Tubbington, in the process. I manage to spin around in front of it and then fall onto the couch squishing Santana between my body and the back of the couch.

Both of us are laughing. I pull my hands out from under her and grab her forearms from where they still hug around my neck. I pull down until she lets go and my hands slide to her wrists. "Santana." I say through my laugh.

"What?" She asks through hers.

"I don't know." It takes a few minutes, but I eventually stop laughing. Releasing her wrists, I stand up. "You want something to drink? Water?"

"Sure." She says and reaches down and takes off her shoes.

I go in the kitchen and get two glasses of water and bring them back. "Here ya go." She is up off the couch and looking through my rack of DVD's.

"Thanks, Ms. Bartender." She takes the glass from me, but doesn't drink it. She seems too busy looking over all of the DVD's that I have.

"You wanna watch a movie?" I ask. She shrugs and I lean over her shoulder to see the movie she is pointing at. It's fairly dark in here. Neither one of us bothered to turn any lights on so the only light is the light coming through the window from the street lamp outside. "That's a good one." I reach around her and pull the movie off the rack and turn and put it in the DVD player.

"Come on." I go back over to the couch and sit down. She follows and sits down on the opposite end. I shake my head at that. She was just clinging to my body not even five minutes ago but now she has to sit as far away from me as possible.

I pull the blanket off the back of the couch and scoot over towards her. "What are you doing?" She asks as the movie starts to play.

I throw the blanket out in front of us when I get to her side. "I'm sharing my blanket with you." The blanket floats down over our bodies. She doesn't say anything.

The movie plays on and on. About halfway through the movie I feel her head rest against my shoulder. It makes me smile. She's probably exhausted. I know I would be. But after work I can never go to sleep right away. I have to wait at least an hour after I get home to go to bed. I don't sleep otherwise. The adrenaline or whatever it is has to wear off before I can sleep.

I wait a few minutes before I'm about to ask her if she wants to go to sleep. I twist my neck to look down at her face. Her eyes are closed and her lips are parted slightly, her jaw slack. She's asleep already.

I shut the DVD off and gently push her off my shoulder so I can stand up. Once I'm up, I bend over and pick her up and carry her like a bride over the threshold. She grumbles intelligibly but doesn't wake up. I carry her into the bedroom and set her down on the bed. I pull back the sheets and cover her up. She rolls onto her side and curls into a ball, like she did last time.

After a go to the bathroom and change into my pajamas, I get back into my room and climb into bed. I lay on my side and stare at the girl that lays across from me. She is beautiful even in her sleep, especially in her sleep. She looks at peace like the world can't touch her or bother her.

Something flutters inside me and I sigh. The last thing I do before I fall asleep is lean forward and kiss Santana on the forehead.

* * *

My eyes flutter open and the first thing I see are big brown eyes staring back at me. I smile. "You stayed." I say and my voice is still deep and full of sleep.

She nods. "I stayed." She smiles.

"Do you want some breakfast?" I can actually do today what I didn't get the chance to do a week ago. I rearrange my question. "Do you want me to make you some breakfast?"

She purses her lips together then nods her head. She averts her eyes and ducks her chin to her chest. I can see the blush that heats her cheeks. "Hey." I reach out and tuck my index finger under her chin and lift until her eyes are back on mine. "It's okay." I tell her and smile reassuringly. She nods again. "Okay, I'll meet you in the kitchen in five minutes." She nods and I sit up and get out of bed.

After I stop at the bathroom, I go to the kitchen and pull out the waffle maker. I hope she likes waffles.

She comes into the kitchen looking a little fresher than before when we were laying in bed. Not that she didn't look alright this morning when she woke up, or when I woke up, I guess. She looked great. I don't think I've ever seen her and not thought she looked great.

"I hope you like waffles."

"I love them actually." She pulls out a chair at the table and sits down. I go back to making the waffles. I can see her out of the corner of my eyes. She is just sitting there playing nervously with her fingers. She's nervous and it's cute.

I make the waffles and sit down with Santana to eat. We share breakfast in relative silence. Every now and then I will look up and smile at her and she will duck her head and stare at her plate.

"I have to be at work at noon." I mention and look over to get her reaction.

She looks up from her plate. "Okay." She looks around the room. I don't know what she is looking for, if anything.

"You can stay until I have to go." I say it thinking that maybe that's what she was trying to figure out. If she should leave as soon as she is done eating or wait until I have to go.

"Okay."

"You don't have much to say this morning." I comment. Santana has been super quiet. Like, I don't think she has said more than a dozen words since we woke up.

"Thank you." It's timid and shy but those are sort of the same thing.

I cock my head to the side. "What for?"

She shrugs. "This." Santana points down to her almost empty plate. "Breakfast. And for letting me stay last night."

"We're friends, right?"

She breaks eye contact and looks down at her plate again. "Right."

"Just so you know, you can stay over whenever you want. Except, if I'm not here cuz then how would you get in." Santana laughs at that. She looks up and that smile is back. "I'm gonna go take a shower and you can do whatever, watch tv or play with Lord Tubbington, wherever he is."

"Okay." She nods. I get up and put my plate in the sink and go take my shower.

I get out and Santana is looking at the pictures on my wall. There are some of my family and friends. Some with my friends from when I was in high school. Some with me in them and some without. It's basically the most important people in my life.

"We should take a picture together soon." I suggest. Santana flinches when she hears my voice. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay."

"So, I've had a great time but I have to get to work now. But, we can walk over together."

"That sounds good."

I motion for her to go first. She leads as we walk to the door. I shut and lock the door as soon as we are out. She waits for me at the top of the stairs. I send her a smile and she smiles back and we descend the stairs side by side.

When we make it outside it's a nice spring morning. Well, its almost afternoon, but whatever. The walk over to the bar is short. Too short for my liking. I don't really want her to go but I know that she has to.

"Well, that was short." I hope she can't here the disappointment in my voice.

"Yeah, but it must be pretty cool to live so close to work. You don't need to worry about traffic or being late because of some unforeseen problem on your way into work."

"It is a privilege, of the life, that I live." I chuckle awkwardly. "So, here we are." I hike my thumb over my shoulder at the building.

"Yes. I should get going too."

I nod. "Right. So, I'll see you soon."

"Yeah, and uh- thanks again." She stumbles over her words.

"Please, don't thank me. Seriously. Stop. I don't want to hear another thank you come out of that pretty little mouth of yours. Now, come here you goof." I hold my arms out and step forward wrapping them around her body.

I hear her let out a sigh as she brings her arms up and puts them around my waist. I squeeze her tight before I let go. "Now get out of here, your gonna make me late for work."

She smiles and shakes her head at me. "See ya, Britt." She waves as she walks over to the parking lot where her car still is. I wave back and my heart flutter a little in my chest at the way she shortened my name. Yes, she is not the first person to call me Britt. My parents do, and Sugar does, and some of my close friends do, but it means so much more coming from her.

* * *

**Another chapter in the books. I hope it was a good one. I'm loving all the reviews and comments and the follows and favorites this story is getting. Thank you.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I get the day off cuz of Memorial Day so you guys get an extra chapter. This is the longest chapter I've written for this story so far. So with that...Enjoy. **

* * *

Chapter 10: Sunday Funday

Saturday flew by after I said goodbye to Santana and went to work. The eight hours seemed to pass in no time at all and before I knew it, it was 8 pm and time to go home. I thought about calling up Tina and asking if she wanted to come over and hang out at my place for the evening but I was still tired from the night before and decided against it. I ended up just going home and watching re-runs of The Fresh Prince and then going to bed early.

I got up today and went for a run. It is a beautiful March day and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Lord Tubbington and I are hanging now and I am contemplating calling Tina up and asking her if she wants to go to a movie or something.

"What do you think Lord T?" He is curled up on the couch cushion on the opposite end of the couch as me. He just blinks slowly at me and that's as much of an answer as I think I'm going to get. Not even a meow or him getting up and coming over by me. He just sits there like I didn't even say anything. Fine.

"Now, I just need to find my phone. I don't suppose you know where that is?" I stand up from my spot, and move to stand in front of him, and stare down at him. He just yawns in response.

My phone isn't in the living room. That's where I was sitting. It wasn't on the end table or the coffee table. It wasn't lying on the couch cushions unless it's stuck between the cushions.

I go into the kitchen and don't see it there either. Not on the counter or the island thingy. The only places left are the bathroom and my bedroom. Odds are my phone isn't in the bathroom.

I wish I had a phone, to call my phone, when I misplace it, but I'd probably misplace that phone too.

It's not on the dresser or the desk in my room. It's not on either one of the two nightstands either. That just leaves the bed. As I approach it a hear a little beep beep noise. Which means, I either just got a voicemail or a text message, a few seconds ago. Probably right before I came into my room. I know the phone is on the bed, I just have to find it now.

I figure it would be easiest to just pull back the covers and expose the bed. So I do just that, but I don't see the phone under the blankets, so I drop them at the end of the bed. They hit the floor with a thud. I peel the sheet back onto the bed slowly looking for my phone the whole time. I still don't see it when the sheet is flat against the bed again.

I look on the floor next. There at the foot of the bed lays my phone. It must have fallen out of the sheet when I put it back on the bed. I go to pick it up not bothering to put the comforter back on the bed. I pick up the phone and walk back into the living room. As I plop down on the couch, I scroll across the screen with my thumb, unlocking the phone. And holy shit.

It's not a voicemail. It's a text message.

_From Santana: 2 things. 1: I know ur not workin today. 2: do u have afternoon plans?_

I look around the room. I'm not sure why I do it but I don't know what else to do. My heart rate speeds up just the slightest bit. I mean come on, Santana just texted me. That's very exciting stuff. When me eyes finally return to my phone, I read of the text three more times, to make sure I understand what is going on right now. Did Santana just text me to see if I want to do something with her this afternoon?

I just stare at the phone for a few more seconds before I can shake myself out of it and restart my brain. My fingers start typing before I even realize it.

_To Santana: No afternoon plans_

I hit send, and sit, and wait. I stare at the phone in my hands. The seconds seem to tick by painstakingly slowly. The screen lights up at the same time that the text alert sounds. I nearly drop the damn thing in my hast to unlock it.

_From Santana: k. if ur free u wanna hang?_

I want to type _fuck yes _but refrain and instead reply with an _ok sure._ I don't want to seem to eager but I really am eager. Eager to see her. Eager to spend time with her. Eager to do anything that involves her, really. And have it not be in the confines of the bar.

I'm not sure what's doing to happen. I get up to get ready to go out but I don't even know what happening yet. Are we going somewhere? She is coming over to my place? Should I ask if I should go over to hers? Are we going to meet somewhere?

I get an answer to some of my questions when she texts back.

_From Santana: I'll come over to ur place. Be there within the hour._

Holy shit. She's coming over here. I pace back and forth, in front of the couch, in between it and the coffee table. I'm not sure what to do. I should get ready in case she wants to go somewhere. No. I should clean up the apartment a little. I look to the kitchen. There are dirty dishes there from breakfast and lunch. I run a hand threw my hair. Yuck. I need to take a shower too. I should have done that a soon as I got back from my run.

The shower is more important than the dirty dishes. I rush into my room to get a change of clothes. Oh shit. What am I suppose to wear? Something cute. Something comfortable? Something sexy. What am I doing? Fuck.

I look around the room. There are dirty clothes from yesterday lying on the floor, in the corner. The bedspread is still lying on the floor, at the foot of the bed. Fuck it, it's just gonna have to stay there.

I go over and pull the second dresser drawer open and grab a long sleeved gray sweatshirt out. It's comfortable and casual. Next, what about below the waist? I pull open the bottom drawer and grab and pair of black skinny jeans. It's the perfect outfit. At least, I think it is.

I hurry into the bathroom. I have less than a hour. I throw my clothes on the floor and turn on the shower as fast as I can.

I am showered and out of the bathroom faster than I think I've ever been. I run in the living room and check my phone. No messages. I still have time. Next up, the dishes. I scurry into the kitchen and start the water in the sink. Add the soap and start washing. There's not a lot but washing all of the dishes will take more than five minutes.

I'm halfway through my I hear my phone go off. A message. I stop washing. There's a bowl and two plates and a pot left to wash. After wiping my hands on the dish towel. I spin around for my phone. I set it on the kitchen island so I would hear if I got any messages.

_From Santana: I'm downstairs in front of ur apartment_

I look around frantically. I know I can't leave her out there while I finish the dishes, so they will have to wait.

On the way down the stairs I wipe my hands over my thighs nervously. I don't know why I'm so nervous. This has never happened before. Her and I. Usually I'm at work. Or it's after work. But, there is no work involved at all today. Maybe that's it. That's why I'm nervous.

I can see her standing outside on the stoop. I take a deep breathe as I reach the door before pushing it open.

"Oh. Hi Brittany." She looks around like she's not sure what to do or say. "I didn't know if you got my message. You didn't reply."

"Sorry. I got it. Obviously."

"Right." She says and looks down at her shoes.

"Well, come in." I hold the door open for her with one arm and with the other I motion toward the stairs.

"Thanks." Santana looks up and gives me a shy smile.

I follow her up the stairs and into my apartment.

"Sorry the place is such a mess." I mumble as we walk into my apartment. "You can have a seat if you want. I have something to finish real quick and then we can-" I'm not sure what is going to happen after I finish the dishes. Are we going to hang around here or go somewhere else.

"Can what?" Santana asks. I spin around to see her taking a seat on the couch.

I chew my bottom lip between my teeth as I think of something to say. Anything really would do. My brain doesn't seem to be working properly. Why can't I think of anything.

"I have to finish my dishes." Comes out of my mouth dumbly. I squeeze my eyes shut in embarrassment. I turn my back to her and take a deep breath. This shouldn't be so difficult.

"Do you want any help?" I hear her say.

"No." I say sharply probably too sharply. Why would she want to help do my dirty dishes.

"Are you sure? I could like dry. You could wash and I'll dry." Santana suggests.

"No. It's fine. I'll do it, but thanks for offering." I blink my eyes open slowly and walk back over to the kitchen sink. "And when I'm done we can go eat or get ice cream or something. I love ice cream. Do you like ice cream? If you don't, we can get coffee or something else. Or maybe you don't like coffee. I don't know. We don't have to get anything to eat or drink. We don't even have to go out. We could stay here and watch a movie. Or we could go to a movie but-"

"Brittany. Breathe." She giggles. I stop. Stop talking. Stop washing the plate in my hands. Stop all movements. I want to turn around so bad and see the expression on her face. I assume it's super cute. But I can't do that. For one thing, I am even more embarrassed than I was before. My face probably looks like a tomato.

"Sorry." It comes out as a whisper. I resume with my dishes in silence.

"Don't be sorry. It's kinda cute when you ramble. And I do like ice cream and coffee. You can pick which one we should have though."

I freeze again. "Okay." I start moving around after a few seconds and hurry up and finish my dishes. "Sorry. I should have had these done before you got here but I ran out of time. I should have done them as soon as I was done eating."

"It fine, really." She assures me and I sigh out a relieved breathe. She's not put off by my dirty dishes.

"Okay." I finally finish washing and rinsing my last dish. "I was thinking we could get ice cream."

"That sounds-" Santana pauses. "-awesome."

I wipe my hands on the dish towel and turn around with a big smile on my face. She's smiling too and it makes me smile a little bigger. "All done. You wanna go now?" I nod towards the door.

She stands up from the couch. "Sure."

I get to the door first. I swing it open and gesture for her to go though first. She smiles shyly and ducks her head as she steps out of the apartment. After I lock the door, and she is waiting for me at the top of the stairs, we head down and out to my car. I know the perfect place to get ice cream and my brain seems to be working properly again. I guess I just needed some time to calm down and get my head on straight. I have a whole plan now for what Santana and I are going to do today.

I pull up outside the little ice cream shop. "This is it." I announce when I put the car in park. Santana hops out of the car and is standing in front of it before I can even get out.

I open the door and get out. "You must really like ice cream." I tease.

"Well, I do but- let's just go in." She thumbs over her shoulder to the ice cream shop.

"Right."

We get our ice cream and I suggest that we go to the park. She agrees and we get back in the car. "Can you hold this for me?" I turn to Santana in the passengers seat and hold my ice cream cup out towards her. "Need two hands to drive"

"No problem." She takes the ice cream cup from my hand. Her fingers brush over my during the exchange. She sucks in a sharp breath and turns to look out the passengers side window.

My hand snaps back and I clasp it around the steering wheel. I back out of the parking spot and start the drive over to the park. It's not that far away, really. Maybe two miles or so. It's a small town so everything is close in proximity to everything else.

I pull the car into the park a few minutes later and shut the car off. I continue with my plan for the afternoon. "I thought maybe we could walk around the park while we eat our ice cream. Sound good?"

"Yep. Here." I look and she is holding my ice cream out for me to take.

"Thanks."

Two ice creams and a walk around the park later we are both sitting on a park bench.

"So, do you have any brothers or sisters?" I ask her as I get more comfortable on the bench seat. I bring up my right leg, and cross it under the other, and sit on it, with my body half turned towards Santana. With my elbow on the back of the bench, I lean on it and wait to hear her answer.

"No. Only child. What about you?"

"I have a little sister. She's sixteen."

"Really. I didn't know that." Santana comments. "I mean, how would I, but- yeah." She folds her arms over her chest.

"Yeah. I never mentioned it so- She does her own thing. She works in the kitchen at the bar on Friday night but as soon as ten o'clock hits she's gone. She got friends to attend to or something. She doesn't really want anything to do with the family business." I shrug. "It's not really a big deal. A little disappointing that I don't see her a lot anymore but she is a teen and has her own life."

I watch her the whole time as she takes in the information that I am telling her. I want to see how she reacts to everything I say. I'm not sure why. But, just about everything about her intrigues me. My whole plan for the afternoon, after the ice cream, is to ask her a whole bunch of questions about herself. I want to know everything about this woman.

Her head tilts to the side. "Family business?"

Oh, right. "My parents own the bar. They actually only five buildings or businesses in town including my apartment building. My mom works everyday at the bar. Either in the kitchen or in the bar. My dad works as a handyman during the week and on Friday nights and Saturdays he works at the bar. It's been in my family for 40 years. My mom's dad opened the bar and she took over for him when he retired. And I will take over someday too."

"Wow. I didn't know we had so much in common." She laughs.

"Yeah." I join in with her laughter. I never thought about it before now but we do have more in common than I realized. Both of us taking over our parent's business's is just one of the many things.

She stops laughing suddenly. "So wait. You work at the bar, live next door to it, do you pay your parents rent then?"

"Yeah. Is that weird?"

"No. It's just, I don't think I could handle that. All the parts of my life being so- so connected. I don't think I could pay my mom or my dad, for that matter, to rent out an apartment that they own."

I shrug. I don't really know what to say. It's easy and I like it. I don't have to worry about a lot of things that way. I lead a simple life and it works for me. To have everything so close. My home and my work are on the same city block and my family are always around. I like it that way.

"I like it. I'm a simple being. I don't need a lot of things in my life to make my happy. I have what I need and I love what I do." I shrug again. It's not complicated.

"Wow. You are even more amazing than I thought." She says. I smile cuz how can I not. She turns away when she sees me smile and realizes her error. She wraps her arms around herself tighter.

I look down and notice that her hands are balled in the ends of her sleeves and tucked under her armpits. I look around the park quickly. It's March and it's not exactly hot outside. Everyone else in the park either has on a light coat or a heavy sweatshirt. Santana is in a plain blue, thin, long sleeved shirt. I am fine and I look down at what I am wearing. A sweatshirt. "Hey, are you cold?" I say it before I even think it.

She turns to look at me. "No." She hugs herself tighter.

"Yeah, you are. Don't lie." I manage to maneuver myself until I can pull the sweatshirt up and over my head. "Here. Put this on." I hold the sweatshirt out for her.

Santana shakes her head. "What about you?"

"I'll be fine. I like cool weather. And we can leave soon." I drop the shirt in her lap when she doesn't take it. "Just put it on, please. I don't want to be the one responsible for you getting sick."

She eyes the sweatshirt and then me and then the sweatshirt again. "You wouldn't be the one responsible. I'm the idiot who should have worn a warmer shirt."

"You're not an idiot. You just didn't know we would be outside." Santana looks back up from the shirt with those big brown eyes. There's something about them, but I don't know what it is, yet. I don't know if it's sadness, or hope, or fear, or what, but I can see it in her eyes. "Put it on before you freeze to death."

She nods. "Okay." It's a whisper. She lifts shirt and pulls it over her head. She's leaning forward but the sweatshirt still gets stuck on the back of the bench seat. I reach out and pull down the little wad of fabric that is stuck. Her head pokes out as I help her pull the shirt on. "Thanks." She ducks her head. Shy. And runs her hands through her nearly black hair.

"No problem." I use her reply from before. I have more questions to ask so I figure I should start up again before I run out of time. "So, I've heard about your mom but what about your dad?"

Santana looks off into the distance. "He works a lot. He's a doctor."

Okay, that was a little vague. "What kind of doctor?"

"Pediatrics." She shrugs.

"That's cool. He works with sick kids. That must be so rewarding. Getting to help sick kids get better."

"Yeah. He loves it." She sounds distant when she says it.

"You don't sound too happy that he helps kids."

She slowly turns to look at me. "He's not around a lot. My whole life he has been at the hospital helping little kids with cancer and all sorts of serious medical condition while I was at home perfectly healthy. I know it's wrong of me but I was jealous of all of those kids."

"It's not wrong. You just missed your dad and wanted to spend more time with him. He sounds like a really great guy."

"That's the problem." I gave Santana a confused look and she continues. "He is a great guy. He isn't anything like my mom. He's compassionate and caring and only wants to see me happy, no matter what or who it is, that makes me happy."

"Well, he sounds great. Maybe I'll get to meet him one day." Now it's Santana's turn to give me a confused look. I rethink my words. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. I don't want to imply anything or put any sort of unwanted presser on Santana. I change the subject quick to cover my mistake. "We should get going. It is actually a little chilly out here."

She chuckles. "You're just saying that."

I hold my hands out in front of me. "No I'm not. I wouldn't lie about something as important as the warmness, or in this case, coldness of the weather."

She eyes me curiously. Probably trying to figure out if she should believe what I'm saying. Finally she says okay and stands from the bench. I stand with her and we walk side by side back to my car. I don't say anything and she doesn't either. And that's okay. I could spend the whole day with Santana and not say two words to her and be okay with it.

The car ride is filled with just the sound of the radio playing in the background and the noise from the road until Santana spots a group of young boys on the sidewalk. "Little bastards." She mumbles. I don't think I was meant to hear it but I did.

"What's wrong with them?"

There are four boys walking down the sidewalk. One is kicking a soccer ball in front of him. Two of the boys are pushing and shoving each other. And the fourth boy is walking a few feet behind all of them with his hand stuffed in his pockets.

As we pass the one boy tackle the other he is wrestling into someone's front yard. They start rolling around and wrestling on the grass. Kicking and punching and yelling. The one boy gets loose from the other's hold and is running through the yard. The second boy is chasing him. They run through the flower bed.

"That right there. Did you see that? Those kids have no respect. They run around and do as they please and they are totally trespassing on somebody's property. They don't give a shit for anyone but themselves."

"You don't know that. They look like they are just having a little fun. They aren't hurting anyone expect for maybe each other." I don't really see what the big deal is. They're boys. Boys will be boys right. They are young and impulsive. That's just their nature.

"Whatever." She mumbles. We fall into silence again for the remainder of the ride back to my apartment.

I unlock the door to the building and step inside holding the door open for Santana after me. A sound catches my attention and I whip my head around to see my downstairs neighbor out in the hallway.

"Hi Mr. Carlson."

"Hello, Brittany." He smiles politely. Mr. Carlson is a middle aged, single guy. He's one of the nicest guys I know. He even lets me borrow sugar from him sometimes if I run out. He always say hello when he sees me and ask how I am. "How are you?" Just like that.

"I'm good. Just working and stuff. You should come up and see Lord Tubbington some time soon. I'm sure he would like that." His eyes shift from me to my left as I am talking and I can tell that he isn't even paying attention to what I am saying anymore.

He waits until I'm finished. "Who's your- pretty little friend?"

I turn to my left to see Santana. I don't know who is blushing harder, me or her.

"This is my friend, Santana. We just went to get ice cream and went to the park."

"Oh lovely. Well, it's nice to meet you, Santana." He says extending his hand to shake.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Carlson." She shakes his hand and grins at him. I can see the slightly hint of blush tinting her cheeks still.

"Please, you can call me Hank."

"Hank. It was nice to meet you, Hank."

"Will I be seeing you around again?" Hank asks.

The thing is, I don't usually have anyone over to my apartment. Once and a while one of my friend will stop by but usually I go to them. It's not the biggest apartment, so I don't like having a lot of people here, and I normally just don't have anyone over. I think Mike has been here like twice before and I've known him longer than I've lived in this apartment.

Santana eyes me warily before she shrugs. "Maybe."

"Well, until we meet again ladies." He says and turns around towards his apartment door.

"Bye, Mr. Carlson." I yell after him.

"Bye, Brittany. Santana." He says and disappears into his apartment.

"That guy is weird." Santana says as soon as he is gone.

I narrow my eyes at her trying to figure out if she means that he is actually a weird guy or if she is just saying that. Okay, so maybe he is a little weird but I am used to it. "He's a nice guy."

"Yeah, nice but weird."

"Lets just go upstairs." I suggest.

When we get upstairs, I throw my keys into the ugly little ceramic bowl that I made in the sixth grade. It is lopsided and a gross purpley-blue color. I don't even know why I still have it. "Do you want something to drink? I have water, orange juice, milk, and apple juice."

"Apple juice, really, how old are you?"

"Twenty-one, almost twenty-two, and I really like apple juice, so sue me."

Santana laughs. "I'll have apple juice then."

"Comin' right up Ms. Lopez." I wink and say to her before turning to the cupboard and getting two glasses, then pulling open the fridge, and getting the apple juice out.

"So, how long have you lived here, Brittany?"

"Just over two years now."

"Wow. That's impressive."

"Not really." I shrug.

"To me, that's impressive. I still live at home, remember, and I'm like two years older than you."

"Yeah, but I didn't go to college like you. Where did you go again?"

"Ohio State."

"Oh, right. Did you like it?"

"It was alright. It was college. Lots of studying during the week and lots of parties on the weekend." I turn around with our drinks to see her shrug.

"I'm kinda jealous. I never got to have the whole 'college experience'."

"Well, maybe I'll tell you all about it sometime but believe me it's not all it's cracked up to be."

I hand her, her glass of apple juice and take a seat on the couch next to where Santana is sitting. "What was your major?"

"Business." She says and takes a drink of her juice.

"Cuz of taking over the insurance company?" I ask. That seems to make sense.

"Yeah."

"How long has that been the plan?"

Santana shrugs. "Since, I was, like, sixteen."

"Didn't you ever want to do something else?" She sets her apple juice on the coffee table. She looks at me, like I just told her that the sky was red and not blue. "What?"

"Uh- that's been the plan since I was sixteen."

"Yeah, you just said that."

"That's the plan." She tells me for the third time.

"Right. But, is that what you _really _want to do with the rest of your life?" I feel like something is happening here, but I don't know what. I know one thing though, that Santana doesn't really want to take over for her mom. Either that or something that's related to her mom or the insurance company.

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugs and looks down at her feet. "I don't really have a choice."

"Don't you, though?"

"No. Brittany. I don't. This is what I am suppose to do with my life and it's what I went to school for. It's what my mom wanted, for me to take over for her when she retires. And that's what I am going to do."

"Uh- okay." I don't want to argue with her. That's the last thing that I want. I don't know why she is raising her voice with me right now.

"Look. I have to go." Santana stands up and runs her hands through her hair.

My face scrunches up in confusion. She didn't say anything about having anywhere else to be today. If she did why would she ask me to hang out with her. "But- you didn't even finish your apple juice."

She puts her hands on her hips and looks down at me. It's kinds scary, actually. She has that angry scowl on her face right now and I don't like it one bit. "Fine." She growls.

Santana grabs the glass off of the coffee table and brings it to her lips. She drinks the whole glass without taking it from her lips or breathing at all. When it's empty she shovels the glass in my face. "Happy?" She grumbles.

I take the glass from her hand. _Not really_, I want to say but don't. Today was going so well and now- this.

"I have to go." Santana walks to the door and I leap up quickly and follow her. "I'll see you around." She whispers as she pulls the door open.

Part of me thinks she doesn't actually want to go but part of me knows, already, that this is what she does. When conflict arises she flees. "Okay." I tell her. "See ya soon."

"Yeah." She mumbles and she's gone.

I stand there, in front of the closed door, thinking about what went wrong. Thinking about what I said and thinking about what I could possibly do to make it better.

I learned a lot about Santana today and it helps me understand how she works. Her mother and her father and their history with her have formed her into the person she is today. That is both good and bad. She wants to be happy like her dad wants her to be and she wants to please her mom by taking over the insurance company. But those two things don't necessarily go hand in hand.


	11. Chapter 11

**Wow, lots of comments of Santana's actions at the end of the last chapter. I know but this is Santana we are talking about. There are a couple other bumps coming yet. It will all turn out okay, eventually. But, every story has its ups and downs (or it should). That being said here's the next installment. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 11: Work and Wait

After Santana left in a huff I thought that she needed some time to cool off and get her thoughts together, so I let her be. At least, that's what I would have wanted, some time alone to collect my thoughts and reflect.

I thought of texting her or calling her that night but decided against it. I did call her the next day to see if she was alright and telling her I was sorry for upsetting her. I didn't know that talking about her job and taking over for her mother would make her so upset.

I guess it really is a sore subject for her. It got me to thinking back to the first time I ever saw Santana. That night at the bar, where she came in and looked like she wanted to punch something. I wondered if maybe the reason she was so upset that night was the same reason she got so upset at my apartment. But, I have no way of knowing, well, unless I ask her.

Seeing as she isn't taking my phone calls and is ignoring my text messages that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

I feel bad. On one hand, I want to talk to her and find out what the deal with her is. But on the other hand, I feel like I should just give her space. I've probably called Santana half a dozen times and sent about 10 texts with no response.

Here everything was going great and I was getting to know Santana better. But before I knew it she is walking out of my apartment with my sweatshirt on.

That was almost two weeks ago now. She hasn't been into the bar. I would know. I even asked all of my co-workers if she had come in on my days off but no one has seen her.

"Sugar, can you throw me that bottle?"

The woman looks down to the bottle of whiskey in her hand. "This one?"

"Yeah, the one in your hand." Sometimes I think Sugar is blonder than me.

"Oh." She readjusts her grip on the bottle and then tosses it in my direction.

I catch it with a 'thank you' to Sugar. We do that sometimes. Throw the bottles of liquor back and forth when we need them. It's kind of a neat trick. Not that there is anything tricky about it. It's just throwing a bottle and catching it before it hits the floor and breaks. We've only ever broken two bottles so I'd say our odds are pretty good.

I mix three drinks for a gentlemen at my end of the bar. He takes them when I'm finished, he goes back to his table with his friends, in the dining room. It's Friday again. My favorite. It's not as busy as the last couple of Friday's have been but I think that has something to do with the weather. It's April and warming up nicely. The days are longer and there is more sunlight and people can spend their time outside. They can grill out or drink beers with their buddies in the yard and not get cold or with it getting dark too early.

"Brittany." Sugar whisper-yells to me. I am busy getting two pickled eggs out of the jar for a customer. I will never understand how anyone to eat those nasty stinky things.

"What?" I say without turning to see what she wants.

I don't get any answer. "Brittany." She whispers again. It's that kind of insistent whisper, like, when someone wants your attention, but doesn't want anyone else to know they want your attention, but they end up letting everyone know that they want your attention in the end. Does that make sense? It does to me.

"What is it?" I turn away from the counter and Sugar approaching me. She has big, wide, shocked, looking eyes. "What?" I look back down to the jar of pickled eggs on the counter.

"She's here."

"Who?" I reaching into the jar with the tongs to pull out the second pickled egg.

"Santana." She whispers.

My head snaps up to Sugar's face and forgetting what I am doing altogether. I stare at her. Sugar's eyes shift to my left and then down to the floor. I look down and there lies the pickled egg that I was getting out of the jar.

"You dropped an egg." Sugar comments when her eyes lift back to mine.

"I see that." I don't really see it though. I don't even look down to the floor where I'm sure the pickled eggs is lying. I know it's there though. My eyes instead search the room for the dark haired beauty that I haven't seen in nearly two weeks.

I spot her and my heart skips a beat. For two different reasons. One because Santana is actually here and I haven't seen her in two weeks and two there is someone seated with her. That point is made clear when Santana leans into the woman next to her and says something.

"Who's she with?" It comes out as a sigh. I turn back to see Sugar eyeing me curiously. "And why is she sitting over there?" That's the other thing. Santana isn't sitting in her usually spot at my end of the bar. She is sitting on Sugar's end of the bar, in between one of the regular old guys that always in here and the woman that, I assume, she came with.

"I don't know who that woman is and I don't know why they are sitting down there." Sugar shrugs. "I just thought you might want to know, seeing as you have been asking me if I've seen her."

"Thanks." I mumble and Sugar walks away.

Half of me is sad that Santana isn't sitting at my end of the bar and ordering her drinks from me. That's how it's always been but for whatever reason today is different. Maybe she is mad at me for what I said to her the last time we were together. That would actually make sense considering she hasn't returned any of my texts or calls.

As I glance down the length of the bar and see Santana sitting there with her 'friend' I am a little happy too. She has never said anything about any of her friends to me. I was starting to think that she doesn't have any friends. And that's just sad on so many levels. No one should be in that situation. If the woman she is with is truly a friend of Santana's then I am happy for her.

Another thought crosses my brain and I'm not so happy anymore. I duck my head and ponder the possibility that the woman that Santana came in with is her date. We have never discussed her sexuality but I just know. I don't know how but I know that she isn't interested in men, in the slightest. That little stunt that she pulled a couple weeks back when she came in on a Wednesday night and messed with that guys head just cements the fact.

I look up again with the intention of looking in Santana's direction but there is a young man standing directly in front of me. He gives me a confused look before shaking his head slightly. "Can I get this refilled." He hands me an empty pitcher. "Miller Lite. And two bottles of Bud, please."

"Sure thing. Be right back." I leave him where he stands and go to the cooler and pull out to bottles of beer and pop the tops off of them. Then I go to fill the pitcher. When it's full I grab the pitcher in one hand and the two bottles in the other and bring them back to the man.

"There you are." I set them on the bar top in between him and I.

He hands me a twenty dollar bill. "Keep the change." He says as her picks up the drinks and walks off.

My thoughts return to Santana and the status of the relationship that she has with the woman sitting with her.

Thankfully, it's a busy night and don't have a lot of time to think about that. I do glance over at them every now and then. They don't seem to say to much to each other, though. Other than when Sugar drew my attention to them I haven't seen them talking to each other.

My brain is more or less a mess.

It's about hallway through the night when Sugar comes over to me. It has calmed down a little in the bar. "I tried to get the scoop." She mentions.

"About what?" I ask as I refill a glass of beer for a woman sitting at the bar.

"Santana and her mystery woman."

"And."

"Nothing. They don't seem to be together, if you know what I mean. They haven't hardly said two words to each other all evening. Except for when they came in and the woman asked Santana a few questions. Santana has been paying for her drinks all night, though. I don't know what that means. It's almost like two strangers sitting together. I don't know, it's very weird."

"Hmm." I glance at Sugar, to my left quickly, before looking down the bar again. Santana is watching the tv at that end of the bar. Baseball is on. The woman sitting next to her is watching the other tv, that is fixed on the wall, at my end of the bar. It's tuned into ESPN. We don't get much, other than sports, in a bar. Sometimes local programming or local news. We mostly stick with the sports channels though. "Thanks for the info." I look back to Sugar and smile in thanks.

"No problem. You were looking a little distressed and I thought I would fill you in on what I know. I don't know what's going on with you and her but whatever it is I don't think you have too much to worry about. She's here, after all. At the very least, she couldn't stay away." Sugar pats me on the back and returns to her end of the bar.

She may have a point and I will have to fill her in soon on what's doing on with me and Santana. That is, as soon as I figure out what's going on with us.

* * *

"Hey Santana."

Santana snaps her attention away from the tv to me. "Hey." She says. She seems nervous. She looks around the bar and then to the woman sitting next to her. "Hey." She says again, not making eye contact with me.

It makes me a little mad and I huff out a breath. "I just wanted to come over and say hi. I haven't seen you in a few weeks."

"Yeah. I've been busy- doing stuff." She shrugs and goes back to watching the baseball game.

"Oh." I eye the woman next to her curiously. She has been watching our interaction. I can tell. She smiles politely. "I've never seen you in here before?" It's neither too vague or too suspicious of a question for me to ask.

"Never been in this bar before. It's a nice little place." She shrugs and turns to look to Santana. For help, maybe, or for something else. She fidgets with her hands and when Santana doesn't even bother to look away from the tv she looks back to me.

"Well, enjoy your time here." I say to the woman.

"Thanks." She smiles and I go back to my end of the bar to take care of my customers.

* * *

"Where'd your friend go?" My voice is hard and even when I ask.

She folds her hands in front of herself on the bar. "I dismissed her about five minutes ago."

I had gone to the bathroom and when I came back Santana was sitting at her usual bar stool at my end of the bar. I was a little surprised at first but a little smile etched it's way onto my face when I saw her sitting there.

I don't ask her why, though. I nod. "Can I get you something to drink?" I ask instead. I don't need to go snooping for reasons. If she wants to tell me about the woman she was with then she can but I won't go asking about it.

"Sure. Just a beer, please."

"Okay." I smile and turn away to get the beer. I take my time. Santana seems uneasy. This whole night has been uneasy for me and I think maybe it has been for her too. There are things that I don't understand but I won't dwell on those things right now. I'm just thankful that I have the opportunity to possibly talk to and spend some time with Santana. "Here's your drink."

I put the bottle of beer on the bar top and she takes it immediately. She takes a big gulp and sets it down again. Suddenly, I feel like I should apologize. For what I'm not sure exactly. For what I said to her a couple of weeks ago, maybe. It's been so long though. I don't want to bring it up and remind her of it.

I keep my mouth shut. That's probably the best thing to do right now. I watch as she looks around. Santana is definitely nervous.

I tap the counter in between us. Her eyes snap to me. Her unsure and nervous eyes connect with mine. I smile at her trying to ease her nerves. I don't know if she can see my smile with her eyes glued to mine but a second later I see the corners of her eyes wrinkle. I telltale sign that she is smiling.

Everything else around me fades out. Which probably isn't good considering that I am at work and should be focused on that. But, it's kinda hard when there is a beauty brunette, that I think I am falling for, sitting across from me for the first time in almost two weeks. A smile that makes me feel lighter and all warm inside stretches across my features. A smile that doesn't come out very often.

Santana's eyes go from nervous to something else. I'm not quite sure what though. I see them clear and brighten. She tilts her head to the side and I hear her sigh.

And I understand now. She is happy to be in my presence again. I understand because I feel the same way. And the nerves and uneasiness fall away the longer our silent conversation goes on for.

"I'm sorry." I whisper. I hadn't really meant to say it but it just came out anyway. I don't take my eyes off of Santana. Her face scrunches up in that cute confused way.

"For what?" She whispers.

I shake my head and look away from her. It's suddenly too much. My eyes search for something to look at other than her. I stop on Sugar and she looking back at me, watching curiously. Of course she is. She would have known that Santana left her end of the bar and came over to mine. She gives me an encouraging smile and I turn back to Santana.

"For what I said- a couple of weeks ago- when you came over to my place." I mumble out my answer to her question.

The smile falls from Santana's face and her eyes go wide. "Brittany. No." Out of the corner of my eye I see the movement. Her left hand reaches out towards me before stopping in mid-air. She must realize it because she pulls both her hands into her lap.

She looks down at the bar and chews her bottom lip between her teeth. "You don't have to apologize. I should be the one doing that. I shouldn't have run out of your apartment like that. I should have stayed. I shouldn't have yelled at you. You did nothing wrong." She looks around before focusing on me again. "I got scared." She shrugs like that explains it all. And it actually might.

"It's okay." I say. "I-"

"No, it's not okay." Santana cuts me off. "I am an idiot. I have been a real fucking dumbass in the last couple of weeks. You shouldn't have to put up with that. I didn't even send you one text to lie and say that I was fine. I just kinda freaked out and ignored everything, well, except for work."

She stops and takes a drink of her beer. "I really enjoyed our afternoon together and I like telling you stuff about myself. Stuff that other people don't necessarily know. But then you said something about what I really want to do with my life and about what will make me happy. I couldn't deal with it. I still am not dealing with it. I put it all to the back of my mind. I don't think you understand but I don't blame you for that. And don't blame yourself, either. I am complicated and my family is complicated to understand. It's not your fault and you don't need to be sorry for anything you said."

She pauses briefly before continuing. "It's not you, it's me. It has become apparent to me- actually, with your help- that I have some issues that I need to deal with. Things that I need to work out."

"Oh." I hang my head. I'm not really sure what she means. I get what complicated means but I don't get why. In my mind a person can choose to live their life in two ways- complicated or simple. I am simple and maybe that's the problem. I'm too simply and I can't understand.

"That's part of the reason I brought that chick with me tonight. Looking back- even a few hours- I know how stupid that was. She wasn't even good company. I prefer your company much more, even if you are working and can't really spend any time with me. I work with her and she was worried about my behavior in the past two weeks. It's true, when I said I didn't think about anything but work."

"How so?"

"Stacey. That chick. She was worried that I was too focused on work and said we should do out for a night on the town. I told her I would only go under two conditions. One- that we come here. And two- that I pay for all of her drinks the whole night."

"Wow."

"I know. Total dumbass." She gives me a tight-lipped smile.

"You're not a dumbass. Just a little silly about some things." I offer.

She laughs. "See. Already better company than Stacey."

I probably have the goofiest of smiles on my face. Santana just makes me feel better. Even now after the last two weeks of no contact with her, I just feels so good. With her little explanation, her side of the story, it feels like nothing ever happened. Like the last two weeks were just a figment of my imagination. Maybe not, but that's how I feel right now.

I probably shouldn't be so easy to forgive and forget but i can't help it with her. This little situation is just that, little. No harm, no foul, in my mind, but that doesn't mean nothing happened. Learn and move on, I say.

"Brittany." Sugar yells from down the bar and I look to see what she wants. She's waving me over, rather obnoxiously. Everyone in the bar has their attention on her, including me and Santana. I shake my head at the slightly crazy young woman.

I glance back to Santana, leaning across the bar a little. "Excuse me." I whisper to her. "I believe someone is trying to get my attention." I smile brightly at Santana and she smiles back.

"What?" I ask Sugar as soon as I get over to where she is.

"How's it going over there?" Sugar asks enthusiastically, nodding her head over in Santana's direction.

"Better." I don't want to give her too much information. Not here and not now. I have every intention of telling her what's going on but not right now. I need some time before I do though. "I will tell you later. But not at the bar and at work. Once I have a grip on the situation I will tell you everything. We can get together for lunch or something one day."

She narrows her eyes at me and folds her arms over her chest. I can tell Sugar is not pleased with this. She pouts and even stomps one of her feet. "Fine." She huffs out.

I put my right hand on one of her arms. "I promise. Okay? Just not yet."

"Okay." She finally agrees.

* * *

The rest of night went well. Most of the rest of my time was spent cleaning and serving drinks. I did, however, find a little bit of time to chat with Santana about nothing in particular. Any weirdness that was between us had disappeared after Santana explained why she did the things she did.

"Hey, Santana?"

"Yes." She turns from the program on the tv that she is watching.

"I was wondering- if um-"

"Yes." She says all excited, brilliant smile on her face. "Yes." She says firm but confident.

I tilt my head to the side and narrow my eyes. "You don't even know what I am going to ask." I chuckle.

"Doesn't matter. Yes. I say yes to whatever you want to ask."

Okay. I cross my arms over my chest. "What if I told you that I killed somebody and I asked you to hide the body?" It's a challenge.

"Well-" Santana seems to ponder the question for a few seconds. "-first, I don't believe _you _could ever kill anyone. You are far too kind. And second, if that was the case I would still say yes." She shrugs.

I study her curiously while I think of something else to say. "Is that so?" She nods. "Well, I'm super happy you said yes then." I tell her with a pleased smile.

"Good. Me too." She smile back at me, just as big.

"Me too." I parrot.

"You said that."

"So did you."

"Brittany quit flirting and get back to work." Sugar yells over at me. I turn away from Santana and glare at Sugar.

She always has to open her mouth and say something at all the wrong times. "What?" She throws her hands in the air in innocence, like, she didn't do anything wrong.

"Nothing." I mutter and go back to drying the glasses that just came out of the dishwasher.

* * *

Sugar and I finish cleaning. "Be right back." I nod to the back door to the bar that leads into the kitchen. I go punch out and then go back into the bar. Sugar goes into the kitchen to punch out and I round the bar and hold out my hand.

Santana looks down at it and then looks up to my eyes. "Ready to go?" She nods and takes my hand. I help her off of her bar stools and we walk hand in hand to the front door. We get to the door and she starts to push it open. "Wait." I say and she stops. "We gotta wait for Sugar."

She nods again and lets the door swing closed before looking around the empty bar. "It's so different in here when there is no one here."

"It is, isn't it." I say to her. "I always like the feel of the bar after everyone is gone. It's peaceful and I don't know-" I trail off searching for the word I am looking for.

"Beautiful." Santana says. I stop from looking around the room and stare at her. I have always thought that the bar was beautiful. But, I have never found anyone else who thought the same thing. "What?" She says self-consciously as I stare down at her.

"I have never met anyone who thought the bar was beautiful- outside of my family."

"Well, I think it is." She shrugs.

"Ready to go, bitches." Sugar yells as she enters the bar again. She comes around the bar and towards us at the door. I watch as she comes over towards us with a big smile on her dorky face. "Am I interrupting something?" Sugar asks as she looks both Santana and I up and down. Her gaze stopping at our connected hands.

Santana must notice this too because she lets go of my hand and rocks back and forth on her toes. I frown a little. "No." I tell Sugar. "We were just discussing how different the bar looks when it's empty."

"Okay." Sugar totally believes it. I don't know why but that's fine. I leave out the part about the bar being beautiful. "Lets blow this popsicle stand." Sugar pushes in between Santana and I and pushes the door open. Santana follows her outside. I flick the lights off before I step out the door.

Once we are all outside standing on the sidewalk Sugar turns to us, me more specifically. "Have a good night ladies." She winks at me. "See ya later, Britt."

"Bye Sugar." I mumble down at my feet. She always has to go and say something to embarrass me. Sugar turns and heads over to her car in the parking lot.

I start walking. I just want to get to my apartment as fast as possible. My cheeks are probably bright red and I don't want Santana to see. I pick up the pace and hear her hurried footsteps behind me.

"Brittany, wait." I stop dead in my tracks. Then Santana bumps into the back of me.

I spin around as she stumbles backwards. "Sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Brittany, stop. Okay, it's fine. I'm fine. I just wanted you to slow down. My legs are shorter than yours." She smiles that big Santana smile at me.

I laugh and shake my head. "Right."

"Right. Now lead the way. This time a little slower though." She giggles and I can tell that I'm smiling like an idiot again.

We walk over to my apartment side by side and I unlock the front door before we can head upstairs. "So, how did you know what I was going to ask- before." I wave one hand in the air vaguely while using the other to unlock my apartment door.

"Call it intuition." She whispers.

"Alright." I swing the door to my apartment open. "Make yourself comfortable. I am going to change my clothes and then get something to drink. Do you want anything?"

Santana shakes her head. "Nope." I plan on grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge and settling down on the couch and watching tv for a while until my adrenaline from work wears off.

"Okay." I see her sit down on the couch and it's not until now that I realize that she isn't drunk. I only served her two drinks tonight and one was water. I don't know how much alcohol she had when she was sitting over by Sugar but it couldn't have been that much. This makes me nervous all of a sudden. She has never been over a night after work when she wasn't drunk.

I shuffle into the kitchen after changing my clothes. I put on the t-shirt and shorts that I wear to bed. "Are you sure you don't want anything?" I ask as I pull open the refrigerator.

"Nope. I'm good. Thanks though."

Shutting the fridge I spin on my heels and Santana is sitting there smiling at me from across the room. I smile at her in a shy manner. There are butterflies in my stomach and they are going absolutely crazy.

They don't ease any when I sit down on the opposite end of the couch from Santana. I flip on the tv and turn to one of the local channels that has reruns of Cops on at this time of night.

"So, I hope you don't mind but I always watch a little bit of tv before I go to bed. Gotta unwind."

"It's fine. I like Cops. I might fall asleep on you though. I am pretty tired. Guess I'm not used to staying up so late like you."

"Yeah."

The silence after that is comfortable. We watch one episode like that. Just the sounds from the tv echoing through the room. I look over at Santana few times. The last time I catch her as her eyes are fluttering closed and her head bobs forward before snapping back up and her eyes blink open.

"Tired?"

She turns at the sound of my voice. I can tell that she is definitely tired but she is fighting it to stay awake with me.

"No." She shakes her head and lies.

"Don't lie. It's not very becoming of you." I reach over to the armrest of the couch where the remote sits and turn the tv off. "We can go to bed."

"Good." I hear her mumble. I get up and step around the couch and motion towards the bedroom. She looks at me with raised eyebrows. I can tell that she wants sleep more than anything but something is holding her back.

"Are you coming?" I ask. "Don't be scared, I don't bite. Well, unless-" I stop short of what I was going to say. It's probably not best to start with sexual references right now.

"Brittany." Santana nearly shrieks my name, obviously, catching on to my words.

"I'm just kidding. Take it easy." I hold my hand out for her to take, hoping the action is innocent and comforting. A peace offering so to speak. A promise.

"I'm not scared, by the way." She looks down at her feet. "Just a little nervous."

"Well, you have nothing to be nervous about. I promise I won't molest you in your sleep."

Her eyes go wide and I laugh. "You are something else, Santana Lopez. Come on." I jiggle my hand in front of her. Santana looks from my face to my hand and back to my eyes again. I smile my warmest smile for her. She smiles back before taking my hand and I pull her up from the couch.

We head in the direction of my bedroom. I hit the light switch on the hall wall on the way blanketing the room in darkness. Santana's hand squeezes mine as soon as the lights go out. I squeeze her hand back and guide her through the darkness to my room where I push the door open and pull her in behind me. Once we are both in the room I shut the door again. The only reason I keep the door shut is so that Lord Tubbington doesn't come in here while I'm gone and make a mess rummaging about my room.

"Do you want something to sleep in?" "I ask quietly.

"No. I can sleep in this." She has on a sweatshirt and tight skinny jeans.

"Not even some shorts or sweatpants. Jeans aren't very comfortable to sleep in." I let go of her hand and go over to my dresser and take out a pair of each and turn to hold them up to her. "Here. Your pick." She hesitates but after a few seconds Santana reaches out and grabs the sweatpants from my left hand. "You can change. I promise I won't look." I cover my face with the pair of shorts with my hands on top of them. She laughs at me and I spin around so that I am facing away from her too.

After a bunch of rustling and a few odd noises from Santana. "Okay. You can turn around again." I drop my hands from my face and throw the pair of shorts on top of my dresser to deal with at some other time.

She is very cute standing there with her hands in her sweatshirt pocket and my sweatpants on. They are a little long on her but that just makes her even cuter. I want to tell her how cute she looks with my pants on but I don't.

"So…." I nod my head in the direction of the bed. She nods too, up and down.

The awkward journey into bed is next. I crawl in and hold the covers open for her and she looks at the bed apprehensively for a few seconds before walking over and crawling in too. I pull the covers up and over her and start tucking them in around her.

"Brittany." Santana giggles. "What are you doing?"

"I'm tucking you in, silly."

"Oh."

When I'm finished I roll back onto my side of the bed and pull the blankets up to my chin. I glance a look to my right to Santana. She is looking back at me. "What?" I whisper.

Santana shakes her head and rolls on her side facing me. I do the same so that we are facing each other with our faces a few inches apart.

"You are the nicest, bestest person I have ever met. I don't know why you put up with all of my crap but you do. You are a true friend."

"Thanks. But that's what friends are-" My words are cut off by Santana's lips. I am slightly taken aback. But, before I can respond and kiss back, Santana pulls away and tucks her face into the pillow, bashfully.

"What was that for?" My left hand reaches out from under the covers and I graze my fingertips across my lips. I can't quite believe it. She just kissed me, like, on the lips.

"I don't know. I just had to." She mumbles into the pillow.

My body moves before my brain tells it to. I lean over and kiss Santana on the temple. "Okay." I whisper afterwards and return to my original position.

I'm smiling like a idiot once again. "Goodnight Santana."

"Goodnight Britt." She mumbles.


	12. Chapter 12

**I love how this chapter turned out. I hope you guys like it just as much as I do. Let me know what you think. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 12: The Morning After (Saturday)

The alarm goes off at ten am and I nearly jump out of bed to shut it off. But I realize I can't as soon as I am conscious of my body or, more so, what's covering my body.

I reach over gingerly to the nightstand and shut off the blaring alarm clock. I look across my shoulder to see Santana lying on her stomach with her eyes closed. But I know that she is awake. I know because the arm that is draped over my stomach keeps twitching like it is unsure of what to do.

I sneak my fingers across my stomach until I get to her hand that is resting there. I pat it a couple of times. "Time to get up Santana."

I give her the out and she takes it. She yawns, pulls her arm from my stomach, and stretches both her arms above her head. After her little stretch she rolls onto her side. I watch as a coy little smile makes it's way across her lips. I know she is thinking about the same thing that I am. Thinking about when she kissed me last night. It wasn't anything that I expected. I didn't even see it coming, literally, I didn't see it coming and then her lips where on mine. But it was mostly over before it began. I have the urge to kiss her right now. With her laying next to me in my bed just after waking from sleep. It would be perfect but I know that I can't kiss her.

Not now. It's not right. The timing isn't right. A lot of things need to be figured out before I feel like I can actually kiss her and not have anything bad happen in return. I'm rambling now.

I smile back at her and she gets all bashful again and hides her face in her pillow. "I have to be at work at noon so-" I feel like it's best to inform her now so we can lay out what will happen between now and then.

"Okay."

"I'm gonna go shower and then we can have breakfast."

"Okay." She pulls the blankets all the way up so that just her nose and eyes and forehead are showing.

"Okay." I parrot. "And when I'm done you can shower if you want." Santana nods and with that I get out of bed. I pull some clothes out of my dresser to wear. "Do you want something to wear?" I ask her, thinking about getting myself dressed, and thinking about her still wearing my sweatpants underneath the blankets.

"That would be great, if you don't mind." She says timidly, hiding her face some more under the blankets.

"Ya know, if this keeps happening you might want to pack an overnight bag and keep it in your car." I shrug. "Just in case." I pull out a t-shirt and throw it at Santana. "Does that work or do you want some pants too because that might be a little more difficult. I don't know if we are the same size."

"No, this is fine. Thank you very much."

"You are very welcome." And I am off to take my shower.

* * *

After I showered I came out and started breakfast. Eggs and bacon for today. Santana is in the shower now. I wish I had more time with her today but I have to go to work and I'm sure she has other things to do. I feel like I am running on a high though. I had no idea that one teeny tiny kiss would do this to me yet here I am. I feel like I've won the lottery. I am dancing around the kitchen as I monitor the eggs in the frying pan.

"You're good." I stop and spin around at Santana's voice.

"Oh, I didn't know you were done."

"Yep. Have you had dance lessons or are you just a nature dancer?"

I shrug. "I did have lessons when I was a kid but I guess I am pretty good." What I don't tell her is that my friend Mike and I get together sometimes just to dance.

"Well, you are definitely good either way." She comments and takes a seat at the kitchen island. I pass a cup of coffee over to her with a warm smile. "Thanks." She smiles back before sipping her coffee.

"We're having eggs and bacon. I hope that's okay."

"I don't eat bacon but I love eggs." Okay, so Santana doesn't eat bacon I won't be making that for breakfast if we ever have breakfast together again. Though, I think that at this point the possibility of having breakfast together again is possibly very high.

"Okay. More bacon for me." I joke and flip the eggs out of the frying pan and onto two plates.

She giggles at my dumb joke. I hand her her plate and start on making the bacon. "Soooo, do you have any big plans for today?" I ask as I throw five strips of bacon into the pan.

"No. I actually don't want to go home." I turn and she is cutting her eggs. "My mother will probably start yelling as soon as I walk in the door about how I didn't come home again last night."

"Oh."

She chuckles. "Yeah. The funny thing is thought that I wasn't even drunk last night. Most night when I don't return home it has something to do with my drunkenness."

"You could stay here-" I don't know why I even offer. Santana stops. Her hand hanging in the air, fork halfway to her mouth with a piece of egg on the end of it and stares up at me. Not blinking or moving. "-Or you could hang out at the bar during the day."

She doesn't say anything so I turn around and attend to my sizzling bacon.

After I plate my bacon I take a seat next to her and we eat in silence. Santana finishes before me and sets her silver wear on her plate and turns to me. I stop eating and give her a curious look. I'm not sure what she wants and maybe this is about what I said before or-

"Okay." She says.

"Okay, what?"

"Okay, I will hang out at the bar today. I would stay here but you won't be here and that would be weird. What would I do all day? This isn't my house. I feel like I would be intruding. A really don't want to go home yet but I could hang out at the bar."

"Sweet." Now I'm excited. I get to see more of Santana today. This day just keeps getting better and better.

I finish my breakfast and Santana offers to help me with the dishes but I tell her no that guests don't do dishes in my home. She is petting Lord Tubbington and watching Jersey Shore reruns in the living room. It almost time for work though. I finish the dishes and grab my coat. It's April but it's raining. You know what they say- April showers bring May flowers.

"Okay. Time to go." Santana grabs the sweatshirt that I put out for her off the back of the couch and pulls it over her head. I walk over and pat Lord T on the head. "Be good while I'm gone." I tell him. Sometimes I gets into things and makes a mess of the apartment.

One time I came home after work and there was flour all over the kitchen. I forgot to put the bag of flour away before I left and Lord Tubbington must have jumped up on the counter (I have no idea how though) and knocked it over and spilled it all over the counter and floor. I found him and he just meowed at me as if he didn't do anything wrong.

"Ready to go." I ask Santana. She smiles that big Santana smiles and nods. "Alright work, here I come."

"Do you always talk to yourself?" She asks, her head tilted to the side.

"No." I say immediately but then think over it. "Well, maybe. Living by yourself I think makes people talk to themselves more than people who live with others."

"Hmm. I guess that makes some sense." She adds as I shut and lock my apartment door. She waits for me at the top of the stairs like she did the last time.

We are walking down the stairs. "Brittany." Her voice is quiet and shy so I stop and turn to her. I nod for her to continue. "I just want to thank you again before we get over to the bar. For last night. For everything, really. You are a great friend and- and-" She stumbles over her words.

"No problem. Like I've said before it's my pleasure." I tell her before she gets anymore flushed then she already is. The little bit of red tint to her cheeks makes her look so adorable. "Anything else?" She ducks her head and shakes it. "Okay then. Let's go."

It's hard to imagine the Santana that I met for the first time in the Santana that I know today. I know they are the same person and that that first Santana is somewhere inside of her. But I can't help but think that she is happier now than she was the first day that I met her. She might still have the same problems and issues but she somehow seems happier.

I know that I am happier than I was the day that I met her. And that she has a lot to do with that.

We get to work and my mom's eyes are on me immediately. I know my mom saw her because I can see that she wants to question about why we showed up together. It makes me blush and I whisper into Santana ear that I am going to punch in and she sits down in her spot at the bar. She nods and I disappear into the dining room and go in the kitchen that way. I know my mom will find me in a matter of seconds.

I'm correct. And as soon as I close the door the other door that enters from the back of the bar is swinging open and my mom slides through.

I can feel Finn and Will's eyes on me. "Brittany a word." My mom doesn't sound to happy. "In private." We both walk into the break room and I punch in as my mother begins talking.

"What was that? You showed up with Santana Lopez? Tell me that's a coincidence."

"Nope. It's not. We're friends and she stayed at my place last night." She smile brightly over at my mom.

"Brittany." She say exasperated. And I know why she said my name like that.

"It's not like that mom. It's all innocent. We're just friends-" I grin like an idiot because yes Santana and I are just friend but I think I want us to be more than that. "-for now." I add.

"Brittany." She does it again. "This is the chick and that came in here screaming at you not that long ago. You know that right?" Mom sets her hands on her hips.

"I know. And that's not the real Santana. If you got to know her you would know that too. She is misunderstood."

"Good grief, Brittany." My mom doesn't swear but when she say 'good grief' you know she isn't happy.

"Santana's a great person, you'll see." I tell her and walk past her to go start my shift. My mom huffs in response but drops the matter. She just doesn't understand yet, but one day soon, she will see. I just know it.

"Can I get you something to drink Miss?" I ask Santana with my best sly grin. I may or may not be flirting with her.

"Hmm." She brings her index finger and thumb to her chin and rubs them back and forth across her jawbone. "How about- uh- water?"

"You don't want any of our fine spirits. A lovely variety of beers and whiskey and vodka and you want water? It's surely not as tasty as ones of the mixed drinks I could make you."

"No. Water, please." Santana brings her hand down and folds both her hands together on the bar top. She is speaking in this weird British accent. "I just had breakfast not too long ago and I think it inappropriate to follow so soon with an alcoholic beverage. Perhaps later, Ms. Bartender."

We both bust into laughter when she finishes her little speech. Me holding on to the back of the bar top to keep myself upright and her leaned over the bar with her forehead on her folded hands.

"Very well." I say and try to stop laughing. I turn to get a glass to fill with water and my mother is eyeing me up. I can tell that she is trying to figure it out.

* * *

The day passes rather quickly. Santana stays all day and we talk a little when I have time but I have to remember that I am working and that is my first priority. It's hard though, when my beautiful dark-haired Latin friend is sitting at the same bar that I am manning.

All day I couldn't stop smiling like a little kid on Christmas morning. I feel great and Santana is part of the reason that I feel this way. It's amazing really. It's not until Sugar comes in for her shift at five that I feel a little less than amazing.

"Hello Brittany." Sugar practically yells as she enters the bar. Everyone including myself turn to see her enter.

"Hey Sugar." I say as she makes her way through the bar to the other end. She stops dead in her tracks though. "Something the matter?" She stands there frozen. I look from her to Santana. Santana shrugs at me like she couldn't possibly know what the problem is.

Sugar slowly turns her head to the side. She is standing about two feet from me and standing direction opposite Santana. The actually bar the only thing between the two of them. I watch as she narrows her eyes at Santana and then looks her up and down from head to toe. Well, head to waist cuz she can't see the bottom half of Santana's body with the bar top in the way.

She slowly turns back to me. "What?" I ask.

"In the kitchen now." Sugar rushes passed me all of sudden and through the door into the kitchen.

"Looks like you're in trouble." Santana giggles.

I giggle too. "I don't know what this could be about. You didn't say anything that would offend her, did you?"

"No. I've heard even talked to her."

I shrug. "I better go see what she wants then."

I get into the kitchen and don't see Sugar in there. I turn to Will. "Have you seen Sugar?" He points to the break room. "Thanks." He returns to his work and I walk into the break room.

"Sugar, what the hell is your deal?"

"Brittany. What happened after I left last night?" She comes up to me and the toes of her shoes bump into mine. She's that close. Her nose and my nose would be an inch apart if she were as tall as me but she is shorter and has to look up to stare into my eyes.

"Not much, why?" I shrug. I don't know why she is on the verge of- I don't even know what. She's just on the verge.

"She wearing your fucking sweatshirt." Sugar whisper yells and points behind her in the direction of the bar.

"Oh." I smile like an idiot again. "Yeah."

"What do you mean 'oh, yeah'? Brittany, did you and Santana sleep together? And why is she here? Wearing your clothes?"

"Listen, it's not as scandalous as you make it sound. We are friends and Santana stayed over at my place last night and needed something to wear today." I leave out the part where Santana kissed me while we where in bed last night about to go to sleep.

"But what about all that stuff about her not returning your messages for two weeks or coming in here to see you or any of it."

"That's in the past." I shrug. "It was easy for me to put all of that behind me as soon as Santana explained everything to me."

"Wow. Brittany Pierce and Santana Lopez." Sugar says in amazement.

"Don't say it like that, we are just friends."

"For now." Sugar grins evilly.

"Maybe." I agree. The smile on my face can't be contained. "Can I get back out there now?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Go see your girlfriend." Sugar waves her hand at me dismissively.

"She's not my girlfriend." I growl at her.

"Yet." She teases some more.

"Shut it, Sugar."

* * *

"What do you want for supper?" Santana cocks her head to the side and scrunches up her face in that cute confused way that she does. I give her a warm smile and explain. "I'm gonna get food from the kitchen and take it home after work. What do you want?"

She nods in understanding. "Can I see a menu?"

"Sure, but it's basically the same food that every other bar and grill has. I could tell you what my favorites are though. A recommendations so to speak."

"Hmm." Santana hums as I hand her a menu. She looks it over and then hands it back to me. "I have a better idea. You order something for me. One of your favorites."

"Are you sure? I don't want to order something that you won't like."

She slides her index finger on her left hand around the rim of her beer glass. She watches the action as she does it and so do I. "I trust you." She says without looking up.

"What?" I am half memorized by her finger and spaced out. I think I heard what she said but feel I need her to clarify it for me.

She looks up now and looks deep into my eyes. "I trust you, Brittany." She says it and I don't think we are talking about food anymore.

* * *

"So, what will I be eating?" Santana is sitting on the couch after I suggest that we eat our supper's in the living room.

I unpack the brown paper bag of food setting the six items down on the coffee table. I sit down next to her and hand her the first item. "First things first, we have a Super Burger."

"And what is that exactly?" She asks as she starts to unwrap the burger. I hand Santana one of the two plates that I got out of the kitchen before I sat down. She puts the burger on the plate. "Two quarter pound beef patties, two pieces of cheese, lettuce, pickles, onions, and the special sauce. Oh and of course a bun."

"So, basically, a Big Mac."

I shake my head. "No way. This burger is so much better than a crappy McDonald's Big Mac."

"Okay. What else?"

I hand her a little baggie. "In here are Broccoli Poppers. They are so yummy. I was going to have them but decided that you should have them instead and I got Mozzarella Sticks. They are deep fried and have little piece of broccoli with melty cheese and little bits of bacon inside a breaded shell. Here, you have to dunk them in ranch. That's the only acceptable way to eat Broccoli Poppers." I hand Santana the little cup of ranch. "They are like the best appetizer on the planet."

"I think you might be drooling." She chuckles.

"They're just so good." I moan.

"Well, maybe I will let you have one of mine." Santana offers.

"I would like that. And you could have a Mozzarella Stick, if you want."

"That sounds great. What else did you get?" She asks me.

I unwrap my burger and put it on my plate. "A special little burger that I created when I worked in the kitchen and showed Will how to make so I can order it without having to make it myself."

"What's on it?"

"It's similar to yours." I point to the burger on her plate. "Except it only has one hamburger patty. Two pieces of cheese melted on top, pickles, lettuce, and on both buns a little bit of the special sauce. On the top bun though is a little tiny bit of barbeque sauce. It gives it an extra little kick."

"Wow."

"And the Mozzarella Sticks and sauce." I add.

"You seem like quite the cook."

"I'm alright. I'm not really that great with recipes but other stuff I can do. What I mostly do is stuff that I create. Experiments. I worked in the kitchen until I could work in the bar at age eighteen. I can deep fry the crap out of food and make a mean burger but I'm kinda limited to grilled and fried food."

"But you still seem to know what you are talking about. I might have to have you cook for me sometime."

"I'd be honored." My smile feels like it could split my face. "Now lets eat before our delicious food gets cold. That would be such a shame."

Santana laughs at my enthusiasm and I bite into my specialty burger.

I finish my burger a little before Santana and start on my Mozz Sticks. I offer her and one she nods and takes it from me. "Here dip it in the sauce."

"Does your special burger have a name?" Santana asks as she dunks.

"Not really. It's not on the menu or anything. But I have always called in The Brittany."

She giggles a little. "Of course." She takes a bite of the mozzarella sticks and the cheese stretches and then snap and gets stuck to her chin. I laugh and she sticks her tongue out to try and get the cheese off. It takes her two tries but Santana eventually gets the mozzarella cheese off her chin.

She reaches for a Broccoli Popper and I am so excited for her to try them. I really love them and I hope she does too. "Your turn." She hands the appetizer out for me to take.

I tilt my head to the side. "There's no ranch on it." I pout.

She smiles. "Okay. Okay." She dunks one end in the ranch and then holds it back out in between us for me to take.

I lean forward and wrap my lip around the appetizer. I make sure to watch her as her eyes widen as my lips wrap around two of her fingers and her thumb. She definitely didn't expect me to do that. She probably thought I would take it with my hand and put it in my own mouth like she did. I suck the food from her fingers into my mouth. Her jaw drops and her mouth opens ever so slightly. I release her fingers with a pop and a hum. I smirk as I chew the food in my mouth. Her hand fall away, to her lap, as she watches me.

"Those Broccoli Poppers seem extra yummy today for some reason." I say with a wink and she averts her gaze. I can see the faint blush that dusts her cheeks as she turns away.

"Uh- uh- Brittany." She manages to at least stutter that much.

Well, it seems that my little experiment worked. Santana is a stuttery mess and lets just say I am slightly aroused.

It's fairly quiet for the rest of the time it takes to finish eating. I glance over at Santana every minute or two. The first time she is looking down at the plate in her lap munching on a Broccoli Popper. I don't know why but her shyness just makes her adorable.

I finish my food and put my plate down on the coffee table. I look over and watch as Santana dunks her last Popper into the cup of ranch and then pops the whole thing into her mouth. I can't help the slightest chuckle that comes from my throat. Her head snaps up and she tilts her head to the side. Slowly chewing the rest of the food in her mouth, her face turns to that cute confused look. The one with the creased eyebrows and the scrunchy face.

She finishes chewing then wipes the corners of her mouth with her index finger and thumb each on one side. "What?" She nearly whispers. "Is there something on my face?"

"No." I shake my head. "You are so damn cute, right now." Her eyes widen at my somewhat bold statement. I move on quickly. "So, were they as good as I said they were. Cuz I think from just watching you, right now, I would say that you liked those Broccoli Poppers pretty fabulously."

It's her turn to chuckle. "They were great. I think I have a new food to add to the list of my favorites. And the burger too it was good. Thanks."

"Good. I'm glad." I'm not sure what to do or say next but Santana saves me from having to say anything.

Santana reaches forward and places her empty plate on the coffee table. "I should probably go home now." I don't necessarily want her to go but know that she has to. "My mom has been calling me all day. She is probably wondering if I am dead in a ditch somewhere. I should go home and let her know that I am, at the very least, alive. And then she can bitch at me for being gone all night and all day."

I can't help myself. "Why do you put up with it?"

"The bitchin'?" She asks and I nod. "I don't know. Cuz she's my mom."

"Okay." I know I'm not gonna get anything else out of her so I just drop it. "Well, I had fun today and last night too. Even though I was working most of the time."

"Yeah, it was fun." She says picking up the plastic bag by the door with her shirts from yesterday in them. "I'll get your clothes back to you as soon as I can."

"It's not a problem. I have plenty of shirts." I open the door for her and step off to the side.

"Okay. So-" Santana mumbles.

I don't want this to turn into some awkward goodbye. "Come here, silly." She steps forward and I pull her into a tight hug. I bury my face in her hair and it smells like my shampoo. Just another little reminder that she was here and has been with me for nearly the last 24 hours.

We break apart. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

A big smile breaks across my face. "Okay."

"Bye, Brittany."

"Bye." I say and we stand there for a few seconds just looking at each other. Eventually, she smiles and turns to go. I watch as she descends the stairs and exits the building. That's when I shut the door and do a little celebration dance on the spot.

God, that girl makes me feel good.


	13. Chapter 13

**Drama ahead...**

* * *

Chapter 13: Days Go By

I wake up the next day still excited from the day before. Seriously excited. As soon as my eyes open and I remember the day before a smile blooms on my face.

I roll over onto the other side of the bed and bury my goofy grin into the pillow. That's when it hits me. Her scent, on the pillow. I don't know why I didn't think of it before now. The pillow smells exactly like Santana. I breathe in the heavenly scent and roll onto my back holding the pillow to my chest. I wish it were her. Santana, here, that I was holding instead of the pillow.

She said she was going to call me today. I reach for my phone with that thought in mind. No missed calls but it's only ten am. Santana is probably still asleep. Or maybe she is awake and doesn't want to call too early and wake me. But I'm up now, with nothing to do with my Sunday, but wait for her call.

I feed Lord Tubbington and then myself and then I shower. I check my phone after I get out of the shower. No missed call.

I decide to keep my phone on me the whole time so I don't miss when Santana does call. But, in reality, it could be at any point today. She didn't say when she was going to call. It could be ten minutes from now or it could be two hours or it could be tonight.

"I'm going crazy, Lord T." I tell him as I check the time. It's only two pm. I have so much time to kill but what to do? A thought crosses my brain and I pick up my phone and hit the speed dial number 5.

"_This is Sugar."_ The excited voice on the other end answers.

"Hey, Sug."

"_Hi, Britt. What's up? What happened with you and your sexy Latina after you guys left work yesterday?"_

I know she would ask that as soon as I called her and I debate briefly whether or not to even call her. But, I can't sit at home all day and just wait for my phone to ring. I really will go crazy.

"Well, not that you need to know but I was wondering if you maybe wanted to come over. We can talk about it- or not. So?"

"_Fucking sweet. Does this mean I get the whole scoop now?"_

I run my free hand over my face. I can't believe I'm about to do this. "Yes. Come over and I will tell you everything."

"_Okay. I'll be over in 20."_

"Great." I say flatly.

"_Bye Britt."_

"Bye" I say and hang up. "Well, looks like Sugar is coming over Lord Tubbbington." He blinks up at me from where he sits in my lap. He doesn't seem to excited about it.

* * *

Sugar has come and gone. We sat down and talked about everything that's new in our lives. We mostly talked about me and Santana. I told her pretty much everything. The only thing I left out was that I was waiting for Santana to call me.

The more I think about it the most desperate, I think, I seem. Just sitting around all day waiting for someone to call me. I could easily call Santana too. It's not like she is the only one who knows how to use a phone.

As the minutes and hours pass I consider it. Calling her, that is. Why not? Maybe I could send Santana a text instead. Something simple or even cute.

I do eventually.

_To Santana: Hey just wanted to see how you're day is going?_

* * *

It's after 8pm and I've been waiting all day. I didn't get a response to the text that I sent and I am honestly a little worried. About Santana and whether or not something happened. She said she would call and something had to have come up for her not to call. Maybe she is spending the day with her mom or maybe the whole family. I have no idea really. Maybe she just forgot. I really hope that's not the case though.

And maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. I force all the thoughts to the back of my mind and pick up the phone and call her. It rings and rings and rings but no answer. Her voicemail picks up and I hang up. I don't want to leave a voicemail, that doesn't seem right at the moment. I hang up with a loud sigh. The only thing I can do now is wait for Santana's call.

When I go to bed I still don't hear anything from Santana. And I don't think that I will, not today.

* * *

Monday comes and goes. I spend my day doing my normal Monday activities. Grocery shopping, running other errands, washing my car, going to the hardware store. I don't hear from Santana at all. I start to worry that something happened to her.

* * *

Two more days pass and I don't hear anything from Santana. Each day, for the last three days, I have sent at least one text everyday but haven't gotten anything back in return. It makes me a little sad. I wonder what went wrong. When I saw Santana last, on Saturday, everything was great. When she left my apartment we were on great terms. She said she would call me and I actually thought that she would. That's why it surprises me that she didn't call and makes me wonder if something happened with her or possibly with something or someone in her life.

I am tempted to go over to her house and see if she is home. But I know that she works during the day and wouldn't be home. I work at five and she probably works until at least 5 or 5:30. So that won't work.

* * *

I'm at work and it's Thursday night. Sometimes, Thursday's can be really busy and sometimes they are slow. Tonight is on the more busy side. There are four guys throwing darts at the far end of the bar. There are the regular Thursday night guys. There is a group of friends at one of the small tables playing cards. The crowd is very diverse tonight. Young and old. Some new faces but most that I have seen before.

Nothing really exciting happens until the front door swings open and a group of ladies walks in. I can tell that most of them are on their way to drunkenness, if not already there. The last woman walks in and I know exactly what the group is here for.

The woman is dressed in her regular clothes but she is wearing a pink sash with buttons pinned to it. Some of the buttons are flashing and some are regular buttons. She has a sort of crown on her head with a thin white veil attached to it. The woman also has on a bunch of beads around her neck.

A bachelorette party.

One of the girls comes up to me at the bar. "Can I get a pitcher of beer and a vodka cranberry for the bride-to-be over there." She thumbs over her shoulder to the group behind her.

"Sure thing." I shuffle over a few feet and start mixing the drink and when I am done with that I fill a pitcher with beer. I set the two items on the bar top and then reach for some glasses. I pull them out from under the bar and hold them up. "How many?" I ask the woman. She narrows her eyes and then after a second. "Five." I sort out five plastic glasses and hand them to the woman. She takes them, and hands them to one of the woman behind her, and reaches for the pitcher, and turns to pour the liquid into four of the five glasses, before filling her own. "Thanks." She says to me and the group walks off to sit at one of the tables.

A few minutes go by and I thought crosses my mind. It's been a long time since a bachelorette party has come into the bar. I want to do something special for them. So, I get out a tray and put six shot glasses on the bar. I fill the shot glasses then go over to the juke box. A quarter later and the song Shots by LMFAO comes on. I grab the tray and go over to the table that the bachelorette party is sitting at.

"Hello, ladies. I wanted to bring these over and congratulate you on your upcoming wedding." I turn to address the bride-to-be. "I wish you all the best with your wedding and everything that comes after." I set the tray of shots on the table. "These are on the house."

The women cheer in excitement. "Thank you." The bride mumbles to me. It's clear that her friends have been plying her with plenty of alcohol already this evening.

"You are very welcome." I smile cheerfully.

One of the women starts singing along with the song. "Shots. Shots. Shots. Shots." Okay, maybe, it more like yelling.

I laugh and shake my head. "Yes, shots."

The women all take their shot glasses from the tray. I take the tray and head back towards my station at the bar. "To the bride." I hear a cheer from behind me followed by the sound of glasses clinking together.

I'm smiling just from the excitement of the bachelorette ladies. It's contagious really. Fun and excitement are always a good thing. I think that the amount of fun a person has relates directly to that persons happiness. But, life isn't all fun and games. There has to be a balance between work and play. And these women are definitely getting in a good dose of _play_ tonight.

* * *

When I look over at the clock and see that it's only 7 pm I groan. Today has just dragged on. There has hardly been anyone in the bar all day. It was a beautiful, warm April, Saturday, afternoon and it seems not too many people wanted to stay inside today.

Old Man Joe has been at the bar most of the day and I have talked with him a lot throughout the day. I few other stragglers are in here now. Three guys in one corner and a man and woman sitting at a table. There is a lone young man sitting smack dab at the middle of the bar, empty bar stools on either side of him.

At this point I just want to be done with work and go home. As much as I love my job, I do not love when it is dead in the bar. I want to go home and get something to eat. Maybe give Lord Tubbington some attention that he probably deserves. And then go to bed.

There is one more thing that I want to do before the day is over. The one thing that my mind has been going back to all week.

Santana.

I haven't heard anything from her and I don't know what to do about it anymore. She hasn't come into the bar. She hasn't called or texted. I really don't know what to think at this point. I have texted and called her with no response and I don't know what to do.

I stare at the clock and watch as the seconds tick by slowly. Tick. Tick. Tick.

"Brittany." Old Man Joe pulls me out of my stupor. "Can a man get a refill down here?" I look over at him and he is shaking his empty glass in the air.

I chuckle. "Yes, sir." I walk over and grab his glass and go over to the tap to refill it. It's almost full when I hear the jingle of the bell as the door open. I don't look up because I don't want to overfill the glass and have a sticky mess slipped down the side.

When the glass is full and I finally look up. There standing in front of me is Santana. Her arms behind her back and what I would describe as a half guilty, half apologetic smile on her face.

"Hey, stranger." I smile big just seeing her in here. Maybe I shouldn't be smiling right now but I can't help it. She just makes me smile even if I haven't heard from her in a whole week.

She gives me a more genuine smile now. "Let me take care of this and then-" I trail off. I'm not sure what the 'then' is. Santana must understand because she nods her head up and down.

I bring Old Man Joe back his refilled glass of beer. "I see that your girlfriend is back." He says as I set the glass down on the tiny square napkin in front of him.

"Shut up, Joe. She's not my girlfriend. We are just friends." I scold him.

"Whatever you say, Brittany." He smirks and then takes a drink of his beer.

I roll my eyes and walk away. I have more pressing matter to attend to at the other end of the bar.

There Santana sits, in her regular spot. I don't know how it's always so convenient that that barstool is always open when she comes it, but it always is.

She is sitting there looking all sorts of timid. Her hands, which I can't see, are resting in her lap, her shoulders are slumped forward, and she looks like she doesn't know what to say. I make it easy for her and start first.

"I thought you were going to call me." It comes out harsher than I intended it to. I guess I am a little irked about the fact that Santana said that she was going to call me and then never called.

"I'm sorry Brittany. Something came up."

"For a whole week." I put my palms on my hips and stare her down.

"Yes?" She scrunches her face up like she isn't sure if that is the right answer.

"Are you asking me?" I ask her. I don't have time for any of her crap right now. "Cuz I sure as hell don't know."

"No." She hangs her head. "I'm not asking you. Please, don't be angry with me, okay? I can explain. Something did come up- last weekend- after I left your house and this whole week has been crap. I wanted to call you. So bad. But, I didn't want to talk over the phone. I felt like I needed to explain what happened- to you- in person. So, here I am." She slowly lifts her head and I catch her eyes. They seem sad or maybe scared or maybe a little of both.

Now I feel bad because I didn't mean to sound so harsh with her but I have no idea what's going on. I'm so confused and my mind is running a mile a minute. "Okay. So, what happened?" I drop my hands from my hips and lean back to rest my butt against the back counter.

I wait but Santana doesn't say anything. I watch her, and she watches me, and then she turns her head away and looks down the length of the bar. I turn to see what she is looking at. But, there is nothing over there except the four customers that are sitting at the bar. They are all engrossed in their own activities and paying no attention to me or Santana.

A small thud brings my attention back to the bar in front of me.

On the bar top is Santana's left hand and it is in a black cast.

"What happened?" I gasp. I push off the back counter and step forward to inspect the cast further.

"It's a long story." She mumbles.

My fingers hover over the cast, afraid to touch it. The cast covers most of her fingers, just the tips are visible. Her whole hand is covered. All the way up passed her wrist has that hard cast material covering it.

"Does it hurt?" It's the first thing that I can think of to ask.

"Not really." She shrugs. "The doctor gave me some pain killers."

I pull my hand back from where it was hovering just over the cast. "So, this is why you didn't call?" I look up to find her eyes.

She nods once. That apologetic smile is back. "Yeah. Sorry."

"No, don't be. This seems like a legit reason not to call."

She hangs her head again and shakes it. "It's not. Really. It's not." She says sadly.

"Santana, just tell me what happened and how your hand got into a cast. Did someone beat you up? Are you hurt elsewhere? What happened?" I panic, all of a sudden, as many terrible scenarios pop into my head

"No." She looks back up at me and shakes her head some more. "I left your apartment last Saturday night and I felt really good. Like, better than I had in a while. I got in the car and started it up. I cranked the radio up and started for home."

"Okay." I follow so far.

"Brittany." A voice calls out from the other end of the bar and I couldn't be more annoyed at the moment. It's Old Man Joe again. He has the most terrible timing. Just when I am about to find out what happened to Santana's hand.

"I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." I smile at her and walk away. I can here her laugh as I go. It's nice. It's been too long since I've heard her laugh.

"What is it, Joe? I'm having an important conversation." I snap at him.

He holds his hands up in defense. "Whoa. I was gonna get going and ya know." He waves his hand in the air like I'm suppose to know what he means.

I do know, though. He has a tab started and wants to pay it off before he leaves. "Right." I take his empty glass. "Sorry." I add and turn away from him. At the cash register I pull up his tab and look at the total. "$21.73" I shout over my shoulder.

"Alright." Old Man Joe says. "Here ya go." I turn around and he hands my twenty five dollars. "Keep the change. And I hope everything is alright with your lady friend." He gets up off of his barstool and heads for the door without another word.

"Thanks Joe." The thing about Old Man Joe is that he jokes about everything and everybody. But, he is genuinely one of the nicest guys and he cares about everyone that he knows and even some he doesn't know.

I put the cash in the register and take my tip and make my way back over to Santana. She is sitting there waiting patiently, both her hands on top of the bar.

"So, where were we?" I ask as soon as I'm in front of her again.

* * *

**Cuz this was shorter chapter and I will upload the next chapter on Sunday. Next time the story of what happened to Santana.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

"_I left your apartment last Saturday night and I felt really good. Like, better than I had in a while. I got in the car and started it up. I cranked the radio up and started for home."_

* * *

_Flashback_

I get home and can see from the driveway that the light in the living room is on. I know, that, at least someone is home. After I shut the engine off, I get out and shut the door, I hit the lock button on my keys. The car beeps and I walk towards the house looking for my key for the front door. I find it just as I get to the door. I hold it out to stick in the door but the door swings open before I can put my key in the lock.

"Santana." Her voice is firm.

"Mom."

We stand there and stare at each other. Hell if I am the one who is going to break eye contact first. Stubborn, I know. My mother shifts and breaks eye contact and I've won this staring contest. But, her eyes shift down my body. I look down too and remember that I am wearing Brittany's shirt and I smile because of it.

Her eyes come back up to my face. She glares at me for a few seconds. She's mad. "I've been calling you all day." My mom says. I know that she has been calling me all day. I had my phone with me and it was in working order, too. I just didn't want to talk to her. Sure, I probably should have let her know that I was alright and stuff but-

"Yeah." I say with a shrug.

"So, you knew that I was calling you and you ignored my calls. I was worried about you. You didn't come home last night and I didn't know where you were all day." Her voice rises the longer she talks.

"I'm fine." I inform her and push passed her into the house.

"How was I suppose to know that?" I hear mom spin around and slam the door closed behind her.

"You were with that girl, weren't you." She says. It's not in an accusing way, just sort of like, she knew it and didn't even have to ask.

"My friend. Yes." I spin around to face my mother again. "I stayed over at her house last night and we hung out today. Not that it's any of your business." I raise my voice to match her raised voice.

"That's it?" My mother questions.

"Yes. That's it. I know what you are thinking. I didn't sleep with her. Contrary to your opinion, I don't sleep around. I still don't know why you think that I do. No matter how many times I tell you that, I don't." I ball my hands up at my sides in frustration. This really is not what I want right now. An argument about my whereabouts after I've had one of the best days I've had in a long, long time. "I stayed at Brittany's house because I was being a jerk to her and wanted to apologize. And it was late and Brittany asked me to spend the night. Simple as that." It's not a lie, not totally, at least.

"Well, you should have come home this morning. Or called and told me where you were all day."

"I am a twenty-three year old adult, with my own life. I don't need to tell you what I am doing every moment of every day."

"Exactly." She says pointedly.

"What's that suppose to mean?" I scoff.

"It means that you are an adult and you need to start taking responsibility for yourself and your actions. You need to stop staying out all night and not coming home until a full day later. You need to stop drinking all weekend, every weekend. Going out and getting shit-faced drunk and taking taxis home at all hours of the night. Those are not the actions of a responsible twenty-three year old." My mom steps forward until she is about a foot away from me. Face to face. Eye to eye. We stare each other down.

My fists clench and unclench. "That's so not true." I argue back. I am furious now. She is just saying things to make me mad. "You don't know what you're talking about." I am yelling now.

"I do. You need to settle down. Stop partying all the time and find someone to spend your life with. It's time to grow up, Santana." Her voice is lowered and steady and calm when she speaks. It's a little eerie. "No more drinking and hooking up with random girls." It's almost as if my mother is warning me. At least, that's what it sounds like to me.

She steps to the side and steps around me. She doesn't say anything else. Her retreating form lets me know that she is done arguing with me and that this conversation is over, at least, for right now.

I turn on my heels and watch her make her way down the front hall and turn towards the living room. She stops and looks back at me. "Now I suggest that you go up to your room and change out of whoever's clothes those are and go to bed."

My hands tighten into fists again. Little clenched balls of fury. "You can't tell me what to do." I scream at her.

"Yes, I can. I am your mother and as long as you live in this house I will continue to tell you what is right for you. I will also tell you what is wrong." With that she disappears into the living room.

I stomp a foot on the floor trying to get rid of some of the anger that is building up inside of me. It doesn't really help though. I look around the hallway. The walls are lined with pictures of the family. Me, my father, and mother from when I was little all the way up until I was eighteen.

I barely hear the crunching and popping sounds.

My left fist, punctured through the wall paper and plaster, in between two framed pictures. One a picture of my parents on there wedding day and the other a picture of me on my first day of school. I pull my hand back and look at the hole that is now in the wall. The next thing I know is a searing pain shooting through my fingers and hand. I look down at my hand that is now hanging limp at my side.

"Santana, what the hell?" I hear my mother's voice from the next room and I bolt. I run down the hallway and up the stairs and into my room. I slam the door shut and turn the lock. I lean up against the door and listen. I can hear my mother downstairs. "What the hell did you do?" I assume she is has made her way into the front hall where I just put a hole in the wall with my fist.

"Santana Lopez." She yells up the stairs and I know that she has seen the damage now. Next, I hear her angry footsteps as she climbs the stairs. She gets to my room and tries the doorknob. When that doesn't work she starts pounding on my door my her hand. "Santana, what the hell is the matter with you?"

I don't say anything. I flex my hands and feel the pain in the left one. I sink down the door, and sit on my ass with my knees folded in front of me, and listen as my mother bangs on the door, and yells about the hole in the wall, and how I am going to have it fixed and paid for. The whole time I don't respond to anything she says.

After about five minutes of pounding and yelling she leaves.

I rest my forehead on my knees and let out an exasperated sigh. I'm angry and frustrated. I don't know what to do. My hand is killing me. It hurts like a son of a bitch.

I knew my mom wasn't going to be happy when I finally showed up at home, but I could have never imagine what has just transpired.

After a few minutes of just sitting on the floor and gathering my thoughts and calming my heartbeat, I stand up and go over to the bed. I will actually do what my mother wants me to do and go to bed. But, first, I need to get some aspirin for my hand and maybe an ice pack.

I sneak out of my room and into the bathroom. In the cabinet I find the aspirin and take two. There aren't any ice packs upstairs so I will have to go without that. I run my left hand under the cold water though. At first it stings, I wince and pull my hand back, but try again and keep my hand under the water for a few minutes while I brush my teeth with my other hand. That proves to be more difficult than I thought it would. I usually brush my teeth with my left hand, it's my dominant hand, after all.

I get back to my room and lock the door again. I don't want my mom coming in and checking on me. I know she will try. I know she will be worried about my hand. But, I don't want that. She is my mom and she is going to worry. That's just her nature, to worry. I'm a big girl and can take care of myself and I'm going to prove that to her.

I slip my jeans off and pull my sleep shorts on. Next, I reach for the hem of my t-shirt expect- it's not really my shirt. It's Brittany's. I smile down at the material that covers my torso. Pulling the bottom up to my face, I bury my nose in the fabric. It's smells like Brittany. It's comforting after everything that has happened. Just the smell of Brittany and her home on me makes me feel a little better. Some of the anger dissipates and a sort of calm passes over me.

I sigh and fall back onto the bed, still wearing the t-shirt. I need it right now. I curl up under the covers and wait for sleep to take over.

I wake up a few hours later due to the intense pain in my hand. Getting out of bed I turn the light on and start to inspect my hand. It hurts, obviously. The knuckles on my three middle fingers are starting to get black and blue. I make a fist and the pain multiplies at the center of my hand and shoots up my arm.

Great. It's probably broken. I leave my room and go to the bathroom and take two more aspirin. It's probably not a good idea cuz I just took some a couple hours ago. The bottle even say not to take more for four hours after the first dose. I don't care, though, right now.

Climbing back into bed, I pull the blankets up to my chin and try to get back to sleep.

* * *

The next morning I wake up- if you can call it that. I tossed and turned all night. The pain in my hand and the thoughts in my brain both keeping me awake.

I really don't want to go downstairs and have to deal with my mom this morning. She will probably berate me some more. But, I have to go down there, eventually. First of all, my hand is killing me and it needs more attention. I know this for a fact. And second, I am hungry. Even though I had one of the best meals I've ever had last night with Brittany.

I descend the stairs and walk into the kitchen. Mom is sitting at the table, reading the paper. "Morning." She mumbles, I assume she hears me entering the room.

"Mom." I say timidly. I really don't want to have to do this but my left hand gives me no choice. She looks up over the top edge of the paper with a raised eyebrow. "Can you look at my hand?" I raise my hand in the air and I see her eyes widen at the sight. My black and blue and swollen hand clear for her to see.

"Oh my god." She whispers and stands up from her seat and moves towards me. "Santana." She grips my arm at the elbow. "This looks terrible. Does it hurt?"

I nod. "A lot."

"Okay. Go get dressed. I am taking you to the hospital."

"But mom." I whine.

"No. Go. Now. We are going to the hospital." She demands.

"Okay." I sigh and walk back to the staircase. So much for taking care of myself.

* * *

"So, Santana, what do we have here?" Doctor Gordon says as he walks into the exam room.

"I think I broke my hand." I mumble, embarrassed.

"And how did you do that?" He asks when he sets down a folder on the counter and takes a seat on his little stool on wheels.

"I punched a wall. Put a huge hole in it too."

"Wow. Well, lets have a see." He motions to my hand and I hold it out for him. Dr. Gordon gently takes my hand in his and looks at it. "I'm going to examine this. Tell me if it hurts." I nod and he squeezes all of my knuckles in between his thumb and index finger. "Do any of your knuckles hurt?" He asks.

"Not really. Just a little bruised, I think." I tell him.

"Okay. Now the actually hand bones." He moves his fingers and presses down on the bones in my hand.

"Fuck." I yelp and try and pull my hand away from him but he holds tight to my wrist. "That fucking hurts."

He smirks at me. "That's because it's broken. You wait here and I will go set up a x-ray for your hand and when we get the pictures we can discuss our options."

"Alright." I sigh, trying to ignore the pain in my hand. Dr. Gordon just made it worse. I had been able to push it to the back of my mind but as soon as he pressed down on my hand the pain came screaming back to the forefront.

* * *

The door creaks open and Dr. Gordon comes back in with a x-ray in his hand. "Well, it looks like you are going to need surgery."

"Surgery." I gasp.

"Yup." He puts the x-ray up on the board and lights it up. "See this bone here. It's broken, obviously. But, it is also out of place and we need to go in there and realign it and put in some pins to hold it in place so it can heal properly."

"Just freakin' great. When do I have to have surgery? Today?"

"Not today. Tomorrow morning, though. 8 am. Surgery shouldn't take too long. It's a simple surgery and you should be back at home sometime in the afternoon."

"Okay." It's a lot of information to take in at once. Surgery. Why did I have to go and punch the hallway wall.

"Alright. I am finished here, Ms. Lopez. The nurse will come in with all of the information you need for tomorrow and a prescription for a pain killer for your hand."

"Okay." It's all I seem to know how to say.

Dr. Gordon holds out his hand and I lift my right hand to shake his big hand. "Good luck with your surgery and the healing process."

"Thanks." He is out the door in a flash.

* * *

I awake to my mother yelling at me to get up. "Santana, get out of bed. You don't want to be late for surgery." I look over at the clock and it not even six in the morning.

I groan and climb out of bed. Looking down at my hand which is still black and blue and swollen but is wrapped in a temporary splint. The nurse came in after the doctor left with the splint and wrapped up my hand and wrist. She also give me a prescription for a painkiller. That helped a lot. Without that painkiller I don't think I would have been able to sleep at all last night.

Skipping a shower- cuz what's the point- I head downstairs. I don't bother to change out of my pajamas either. I will be going to the hospital. They will give me one of those ass revealing gowns, and I will put it on, and then lay on a bed all day. There isn't really a point in doing much of anything this morning. I can't even eat breakfast. I haven't had anything to eat since nine o'clock last night, and for whatever reason, I'm not allowed to have food before surgery. I don't know why because it's not like I'm having surgery on my stomach. Whatever, though.

"Good morning, Santana."

"Morning, mom." I grunt back.

"Are you scared or nervous?" She asks.

"No." I open the fridge and look inside.

"You can't eat anything."

"I know that. I'm just looking."

"Okay." She ruffle the daily paper and clears her throat. "Your father is going to stop by your hospital room, after your surgery, when you are awake."

"Great." When I say, great, I really mean it. I haven't seen my dad in a few days. He works so much and sometimes I just wish he would spend a little more time at home. If not with me, but with my mother, just so she isn't so lonely, or so she gets off my back for a while. I know that she is lonely, and wants him home more, but won't say it out loud. She takes utmost pride in the fact that her husband is a prestigious doctor at the local hospital.

"We should leave soon." I mumble and shut the refrigerator door.

My mom puts the paper down and looks me over. "So, you're ready then?"

I throw my hands out to my sides, sort of presenting myself to her. "Yep. It doesn't get much better than this."

She rolls her eyes and stands. "Fine. Let's go." She grumbles and I know that she is not please with me. It's probably either my attitude or the way I'm dressed.

We pull up to the hospital and now I do feel a little nervous. I go in and fill out paperwork, then they bring me to a room and give me the dreaded hospital gown. After that, I sit in a bed for about twenty minutes before the doctor comes in and explains the surgery to me. He leaves and a few minutes later I am being wheeled into surgery.

* * *

I groan as I return to consciousness. I feel groggy as I blink open my eyes. The first thing I see is my dad stand at the end of my hospital bed.

"Hey, Santana. How are you feeling?" He asks with a kind smile.

"High as a kite." I blink lazily at him. He smiles and I can tell that he wants to laugh but doesn't.

I hear a noise from my left and turn my head to see what it is. My mom is sitting in a chair at the left side of my bed shaking her head.

"Does your hand hurt?" My dad asks and nods towards my left hand.

I look down at my hand and think about his question. I try to move my fingers but can't. There is a thick, black cast that goes from my past my wrist all the way to my fingers. My fingertips are sticking out from the cast only maybe an inch. "No." I turn back to my dad.

"Okay, good. I don't want to talk about it right now but I do want to know why you punched a whole in the hallway wall. I talked to your mother about it and got her side of the story. But, I want to hear your side of the story too."

"Okay." I sigh. That's one of the best things about my dad. He always wants to hear all sides of the story. He always tries to be as fair as possible. I don't know if it's because he is a doctor or if it is just the person that he is. He always wants the best possible outcome, for everyone. His family, his patients, his friends. He only wants people to be happy and healthy. He is a simple man in that way.

I will have to sit down with him one day and tell him everything that is happening in my life, and everything that my mother thinks and wants to happen for me, and most importantly what I want for myself.

Which is easier said then done. I'm not even sure what I want at this point.

Like my ER doctor told me, I am home by mid-afternoon, which is a relief. I don't know how much longer I could sit in that hospital bed with my mom staring at me. My dad left about half an hour after I woke up. He had to get back to work but it was nice for him to take time out of his day to come and see me.

Now all I want to do is climb in bed and go to sleep. The anesthesia has pretty much worn off. My hand started to hurt about an hour ago and I took two painkillers right before we left the hospital and now I just want to sleep.

* * *

_Present Day_

"Holy crap." Brittany says. I nod along. Holy crap, indeed. "So that's why your hand is in that cast."

"Yep." I confirm for her.

"I'm so sorry." Brittany says and she looks a little sad about it.

"Please, don't be. It's not your fault. It's totally mine. I was the dumbass who punched the wall."

Brittany frowns. "I know but- I still feel bad." She looks down at my cast. Her fingers reach out and tap the back of my hand on the hard material of my cast. "How about this? When I am done with work we go back to my apartment and talk about this some more."

I nod. "I'd like that." I can't help the smile that spreads across my face. I would like nothing more than to spend time with Brittany. Even if I have to talk about my problems. There isn't anyone else that I feel comfortable enough with to even hint at the issues that I have to deal with in my life right now. Just Brittany.

* * *

**Next time- an evening at Britt's apartment.**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Make You Happy

"Welcome to my humble abode." I say and throw the door to my apartment open. I bow and throw my arm out to the entrance, gesturing for Santana to enter. I hear a little giggle and look up to see Santana holding her right hand over her mouth. "What?"

"I've been here before." She giggles some more. "And you're a dork." Santana steps past me and into the apartment. "But it's cute, charming even." She says without turning around.

I follow her in with a shy smile on my face. She thinks I'm cute. I shut the door behind me and shuffle my shoes off. Santana is already sitting, across the room, on the couch, petting Lord Tubbington.

From here I can see him blink lazily at her. I'm sure he was probably sleeping on the couch when Santana went over there and sat down next to him.

I slip through the apartment to the kitchen and grab two bottles of water before going to sit next to Santana on the couch. Lord Tubbington is on one end and I am on the other with Santana on the middle cushion in between us.

"So, did it hurt?" I have been thinking about everything that Santana told me. My first questions are about her hand. After that more about the details of what happened when she returned home from my place last Saturday night. And then I want to know what she did the rest of the week and why I didn't hear from her.

I know I shouldn't let this sort of behavior continue but there's something in me that just can't help it. I have this confidence in Santana. I believe that she is misunderstood by a lot of people in her life. She needs someone to believe in her and I feel like I'm that person. I understand people and I understand her.

"Like a bitch. I thought I could tough it out, ya know. I went to bed that night and thought 'it will feel better in the morning'. But, it was quite the opposite. It hurt even more in the morning. See this bone right here." She points down to her right hand with the tip of her fingers on her left. "On the x-ray it was over here. Out of place. I even cringed when I saw it. But, yeah, it fucking hurt. It didn't help when the doctor was prodding at it with his man hands."

"And your hand doesn't hurt now?" I want to make sure. I know she said that the doctor gave her some pain killers but I guess I just don't want her to be in any pain.

"Not really." She shrugs. "If anything, it's just a dull ache. But, already, I can tell with each day that passes that it doesn't hurt as much, even with the drugs."

"Good." I have to look down at the casted hand that is in her lap. "I wouldn't want you to be in any pain." I feel a little shy saying something like that, but it's the honestly to god truth. I can't look at her so I change the subject. Sort of. "What about the wall? Is there still a Santana fist shaped hole in the wall?"

Santana laughs and I look up. That big smile is gracing her face again and damn is it so good to see. So beautiful. "No. The day after my surgery a repair man came and fixed it. Actually you might know him."

"What? Who?" She lost me there.

"The repair man."

"Oh?" I tilt my head to the side.

"Yeah, um, so my mother told me that I had to pay for the damage and call a repair man. So, I got the phone book out and looked over all the repair and handy man services. I called one up and they said someone would be over in the afternoon. I waited and waited and then this guy showed up at my front door."

She looks at me. All over my face and then smiles again. "He seemed oddly familiar or I should say looked oddly familiar. It was when he introduced myself that I knew who he was. Blue eyes, a warm welcoming smile, dirty blonde hair. Sounds familiar?" I shake my head. A lot of people look like that. "A tiny little scar under his left eye." Santana adds on.

Realization hits me and I jump up from my seat and turn to stand in front of Santana. "No way?"

"Yes way." She grins up at me. Her casted hand reaches out and grabs mine. I think my heart skips a beat or two or twenty. "Sit." She asks or says. I do either way.

Santana lets go of my hand as I sit back down. "But, he didn't say anything about it. I mean my dad knows who you are, he's seen you in the bar. Why didn't my dad say that he came and fixed your wall?"

"Because I asked him not to say anything. I said that I wanted to talk to you first and asked if he wouldn't say anything about the hole in the wall or this." She lift her left hand from her lap and sets it on my right thigh.

"Oh." I breathe out.

There is silence for a few moments. I am processing this new piece of information. My dad knew. Maybe he didn't know the details but he knew something. He knew more than I did. "Why didn't you call me or come see me then?" That's the next thing that pops into my head. If she didn't want my dad to say anything and wanted to talk to me herself why did she wait so long.

"I-I didn't want to call. I mean, I did, but this conversation- I felt needed to happen in person. But, like most things in my life I was avoiding having it. I wasn't avoiding you, well, technically, I was. But that was because of this conversation."

"That doesn't make much sense."

"Yeah, it does. But, it doesn't matter. I should have came to see you sooner. It's not like I don't know where to find you. I was just really embarrassed I think. Or ashamed. I didn't want to talk about it. I didn't want to have to tell you what I did. I don't. And I still don't know how you feel about it." She's talking really fast.

"What do you mean?" I'm confused as to what she means. "How I feel about what?"

"About what I did." Santana ducks her chin to her chest. "I punched a wall Brittany. That's not- that's scary."

"Scary?"

"Yeah. Scary." She says again. Slow, very slowly I watch as she lifts her head and looks over at me with big scared eyes. "It could have easily been a person. That wall could have been anyone. It could have been my mother. It could have been someone else. It's scary that I didn't even think twice before I did it. I had no control over my actions in that moment and that's scary."

"Hmm." I hum. I guess she is right. That is a little scary but- "I'm not scared or afraid of you Santana. If that's what your thinking. " I think that's what she was really getting at and she needs to hear me say that. That I'm not afraid of her or what she did. "I know you'd never punch anybody."

"You can't know that, Brittany." She grumbles and ducks her head again.

"But I do. You had a moment of weakness brought on by anger and frustration and you had to take your aggression out somewhere, somehow. But I think- no, I know, that you won't ever be doing something like that again. I think the proof is right here." I tap the hard material that covers her hand. "You and this cast on your hand. Proof that this won't happen again. You have learned from this. I can see that already." I rest my right hand on top of her hand on my thigh.

She lets out a big sigh. I lean forward and grab one of the bottles of water off the coffee table and open it. "Here." I hold the water out for her and Santana takes it and gives me a small smile in thanks and then takes a big gulp of it. She downs nearly half the water bottle before handing it back to me. "Wow, someone was thirsty." I chuckle a little.

"I'm nervous." She admits in a small voice.

"Don't be. So, other than hanging out with my dad on Tuesday afternoon, what did you do the rest of the week?" I joke trying to lighten the mood.

She shrugs again. "Not much. I stayed home from work Tuesday and Wednesday and then on Thursday I went back. That was a huge mistake though. Everyone was asking me what happened and I really didn't want to talk about it so I lied. I told all my co-workers that I slipped and fell in the shower."

"Santana." It comes out before I can stop it. She turns to look at me and I feel my eyes widen. "Sorry." I whisper.

"No. I probably deserved that. I need someone to call me out on my shit." Her fingertips are doing this little dance on my leg and it's hella distracting.

"Okay. Go on." I am in a trance or something. I don't think I am blinking. Just staring at her. Her fingers bouncing nervously on my leg. It's putting my senses into overdrive. I am listening though. I hear every single word that she says.

"I went back to work on Thursday and lied to my co-workers. I worked Thursday and Friday but it was so hard. I'm left handed as you may or may not kn-"

I cut her off. "I know." I smirk at her and she smiles back.

"Right. So, it's not too easy to do anything with a cast on my dominant hand. Work was a disaster. I can barely write anything and typing on the computer has turned into pecking one key at a time. What a pain in the ass. I was pretty much fed up and exhausted at the end of the day so I just went home ate dinner and went to bed."

"Really?" I don't know why that surprises me.

"Yeah. I know. The best part is that my mother can't say any crap about me. I have been home every night for a week. Well, with the exception of right now. But, I told her where I was going and that I would be home by midnight. She hasn't even bitched at me all week."

"Progress." This is the best news I've heard today. Santana and her mom actually living and cohabitating together in relative peace.

She laughs. "I know. It's crazy. But, that's how all this started so-"

"Right. That must have been one hell of a fight."

"I did punch a wall and break my hand so..."

We both laughs. It's not really something to be laughing at but it is kind of funny, in a way.

I don't know when or how it happened, but at some point Santana must have turned her hand over and now my palm rests in hers. Well, not actually. More like my hand is holding her cast covered hand. Her fingertips wrapping around and gripping onto my hand as best as they can.

"I didn't know that your mom thought about you like that. I am just getting to know you, but I don't think that she's right in what she is doing or saying to you, about you. Please, don't take any offense, but the first couple of times I saw you, the first couple of times you came into the bar, you weren't the nicest and you drank yourself into oblivion, but your not a bad person Santana. But, from what I know now- now I know the reason behind your actions- your not a bad person and nothing you do is bad. Drinking a ton isn't good but-" I trail off because I know I am rambling. I realize I am staring down on our hands, and when I do, I look up to her.

Santana's lips are curled in a shy smile. A light blush dusts her cheeks. She looks at me with soft, big, brown eyes. Content would be a word to describe her right now, or maybe happy works, too.

"What?" I ask after a few seconds of silence and her just looking at me.

"Nothing." She says. "You're just- you're- I don't even know." She sighs.

"Umm, okay." I mumble unintelligibly.

"You're like the nicest person I've ever met. Have I ever told you that?" Santana whispers and rests her head on my shoulder. Wow. Just wow. That's all I can think, right now.

"Yeah, actually you have." I whisper back. I don't know why we are whispering. "And, thank you."

We fall into a gap of silence and I just sit and take in the atmosphere. The room is quiet, but at the same time buzzing. Santana's hand in mine and her head on my shoulder. It's quiet, and peaceful, and I couldn't be happier, right now.

A lot has happened in the last few hours, and it's a lot to take in, but I think I'm doing a pretty good job with it. I don't feel overwhelmed. I feel a little more in the know in regards to Santana and her relationship with her parents. I think I understand everything that is happening now. I know the situation now and can prepare for the possible things to come in the future. Whatever the future might hold, that, I don't know. But, sitting here with Santana, it feels right, like it's suppose to be like this.

I break the silence after a while. "Do you like your job or not?" I must know. I can feel Santana flinch a little against my side. "Sorry." I mumble. I didn't mean to startle her or anything.

"I don't know anymore. I did. At one point. But, now- it's boring and it's the same thing over and over everyday." She speaks and her voice is quiet and slow. "I used to think that I wanted to follow in my mom's footsteps and run the family business, but I don't know anymore. I don't know anything anymore."

"Oh. Well, do you want to know what I think?" I ask her. I won't give her my opinion if she doesn't want it, but I really think it might help her.

I feel her nod slightly against my shoulder. "Yes, please."

"Okay. Let me preface this by saying that this is just my opinion on the situation and you can do with that information whatever you want."

"I know, Britt." She giggles and it makes me smile.

"Okay. So, I think, that you should quit your job if you don't like it or if you don't want to take over the business when your mom retires."

"What?" Santana sits up straight, taking her head off my shoulder, pulling her hand out of mine, and away from where it rested on my leg.

I look down at my feet and shrug. "That's my opinion. I'm just telling you what I think. I said that you can do whatever you want with my opinion. If you don't like it then forget that I said anything."

"It's not that. It's just- what?"

"If you aren't doing something that you want to do, or like to do, then you should quit your job, and look for something else to do. Something that you really want to do." I just said that. Does Santana not understand? I don't know if I can be anymore clear than that.

"I can't just quit my job Brittany." She turns her body, in her spot, so she is facing me more.

I look up from my feet. "Why not?"

"First of all, it's my mother's business. I'm suppose to take over for her. I can't just quit. And second, what would I do. I need a job."

"I'm sure you'd find something. You are a very intelligent girl. You went to college, for goodness sake."

"I can't. I just can't. I think my mother would disown me if I quit and turned down the opportunity to run her business."

"Well, if it were me, I would quit if I didn't like what I was doing." I say and shrug my shoulders. It would be as simple as that for me. If I was doing something I didn't like, I would just quit.

"Well, I can't do that." Santana huffs and stands up from the couch. She grabs the half empty water bottle off the coffee table. "I have to use the bathroom." She grumbles and walks out of the room towards the bathroom.

I slump down into the couch and frown. I look around the room for something to distract myself with. I knew I shouldn't have told Santana my opinion. That was a disaster. My eyes fall on Lord Tubbington.

His head is tilted to the side, slightly, and is looking over at me like he can't believe what just happened either. "I know. I know." He just meows and jumps off the couch. If a cat could roll their eyes, I think Lord Tubbington would have just done that.

A few minutes pass and I sit and wait for Santana to come back. When she does she sets the empty water bottle on the table and resumes her seat next to me. She could have sat on the opposite end of the couch, now that Lord Tubbington is gone, and I half-expected her to, but she doesn't.

"Hey." I say quietly.

"Hey." She says back. "Sorry."

"For what?"

"For snapping at you about your opinion. It's your opinion to have and thank you for sharing it with me but-" She trails off.

"But what?"

She lets out a long sigh. "Nothing. I just have some thinking to do, I think."

Movement catches to corner of my eye. I look over to see what it is and I see Santana playing with the material on her cast. My hand goes over, almost automatically, and stills her movements. "What's wrong?" Comes out of my mouth.

She looks up at me through her eyelashes. "What if you're right?" She asks timidly.

"I don't know. You quit your job." If I'm right that's what will happen, right?

"But, if you are right I don't think I can do that."

"Listen, Santana." I take her left hand in mine again. "I don't want to you to think about that right now. I shouldn't have said anything. But- I am going to say one more thing and whatever happens happens, okay?"

She nods. "Okay." I turn a little more towards her and take her other hand in mine. I squeeze that hand, the one without the cast on it. She smiles a little.

"I think you need to do what will make you happy. And not what your mom wants, or what your dad wants, or what anyone else wants. You need to do what _you_ want, and perhaps more importantly, what will make you happy."

She nods again but doesn't say anything. Santana is looking down at our double handhold. It's quiet and I rub my thumbs over the backs of her hands.

"Santana?"

"Hmm." She looks up at me.

"What will make you happy?" It's the question that I've wanted to ask her for a long long time. Since that second Friday that she came into the bar.

Santana doesn't give me an answer. Her eyes flit around the room. I can't tell if she is nervous or scared, but something is going on behind those beautiful brown eyes. About a minute goes by and I just wait.

She squeezes my hands and looks straight at me. "You." She whispers and bites on her bottom lip.

"Wha-?" I lean in a little closer to her. I'm not sure that I heard, or maybe I heard, but don't know if my mind is playing a trick on me.

"You, Brittany. You."

"Oh." I mumble dumbly. I didn't expect that. I had hoped that maybe I could be part of what made her happy, but I didn't expect that she would come out and say just that.

Santana leans towards me a little. Her hand squeezing mine again. "I'm gonna kiss you now." She says, and I barely hear it, it's so quiet.

"Okay." I say back just as quietly.

She tilts forward the last few inches. Her lips graze mine gentle and soft. It's quick just a press of the lips together and then she's gone. Pulled back a few inches and just staring at me. Santana leans in again and it happens again. Except this time after the first kiss comes another and another. Small little kisses one after the other. Our lips pressing together continuously.

"Wow." I say a little breathless when Santana pulls her lips away from mine. She rests her forehead against mine instead. We are still holding hands in between our bodies and I feel like my whole being is alit.

"Wow indeed." She whispers. Her breath tickling the skin on my face, from my upper lip all the way down my chin. It sends a shiver through my body.

I smile like a like kid on Christmas morning. This has to be one of the best feelings in the whole wide world. I don't know what any of this means, the kissing, but I'm not going to worry about that right now. Right now, I am just going to soak up as much of Santana as I possible can before this glorious moment ends.

"I should probably go home before my mom throws a hissing fit." Santana breathes out. And there goes my moment.

"Yeah." I say a little dejectedly. "Probably." I sigh too.

"Hey." I feel her hand let go of mine, and in the next moment it is up, and cupping my cheek. "I need to think over some of the things that we talked about and I can't do that here. You are too much of a distraction. I need to go home and think about what I should do. Okay?" Her thumb stroking over my cheekbone.

I smile weakly at her. "Yeah, I get it. I just wish that you didn't have to go."

"Well, how about I call you tomorrow afternoon after I've had some time to think. I promise this time. Like, really really promise. I won't go punching any walls or breaking any bones this time."

I giggle. "Okay." I feel a little better knowing that. She drops her hand from my face and sits back. "I'll walk you down."

I get up and she follows me. I grab my keys out of the bowl by the door and open said door. I let Santana go first and follow her down the stairs. She pushes the building door open and steps out into the night. It's crisp and cool out now.

"I'll see you soon?" I ask as I turn to face Santana. We both stand on the sidewalk in front of my apartment building.

"Yep." She says. I open my arms for a hug and Santana steps forward into my embrace. I wrap my arms around her and bury my face into her neck and take a deep breath in, taking in her scent. Her arms slip around my back and she gives me a squeeze and then pulls away.

"Bye, Britt."

"Bye, Santana." I wave at her as she backs away from me. A little bashful smile graces her lips as she walks backwards, over to where her car is parked, in the bar parking lot. "Don't trip." I yell over to her and her smile widens.

I smile and shake my head at her. She finally turns around when she is about 50 yards away from me and almost to her car. I watch as Santana walks quicker now over to her car. She gets to her car and unlocks the door and pulls it open. She waves at me as she gets in and I wave back smiling like an idiot. After a few seconds Santana drives off and I head back inside feeling on top of the world.

* * *

**I appreciate all the readers and all the reviews and comments. I still can't believe there are so many of you out there in this big wide world who are reading this story. **


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm posting this now because I'm going to be gone all weekend without computer access. Going to the northwoods. Enough about me. I hope you guys enjoy this installment. As always, thanks for reading.**

Chapter 16: Thinking

Santana's POV

"Mom, I'm home." I call into the house as I shut the front door.

"In the kitchen." I hear her voice, faintly.

Walking down the hallway I glance at the wall where I had punched it a week ago. The spot now patched by Brittany's dad. I smile. It's funny that he was the one that came to fix it. It's funny how life goes sometimes.

I need to talk to my mom before I go up to bed. I just need to.

"Hey, mom."

She raises an eyebrow at me. "You're home early." Of course that's the first thing she would say to me.

I sigh. "I told you that I was going to see Brittany and that I would be home before midnight."

"So, it seems. What is going on with you, Santana? Turning a new leaf, all of a sudden?"

"You should be happy. I am doing what you wanted. Not staying out all night. Not getting drunk. Not hooking up with random girls, not that I was doing that before."

"I suppose."

"Don't sound too excited." I roll my eyes. "Listen, mom, I need to talk to you."

"About what?" She asks and looks up from her seat at me curiously.

"First of all, I need to apologize." The shocked look on her face is priceless. "I am sorry for arguing with you all of the time. I am sorry for the fight we had last Saturday that ended in me punching a hole in the wall of your house. So, I'm sorry for all that crap." I shrug. I'm really not good with apologizes.

"Okay, but what makes you apologize, _now._"

That really is a good question and a very difficult one to answer. I think it has to do with a lot of things. Some I don't want to tell my mom about. And some I might not be ready to admit to myself yet.

"I've been doing some thinking and I've had some people give me some good advice recently. I think it's time for me to makes some changes in my life. Which leads me to my next topics."

She doesn't say anything. Just looks at me like I have two heads or something so I continue.

"I know that your plan is to retire and have me take over the insurance business after you leave, but I'm not sure that I want to do that. I'm not sure that I want the responsibility of being in charge of a company. I'm not sure that I want to even sell insurance. I'm not sure what I want right now. But, I am thinking about possibly quitting and looking for another job. I just wanted to let you know so it doesn't come as a big surprise if something happens."

I stop talking and my mom just stare at me like she can't believe the words coming from my mouth.

"Are you serious right now?" She finally asks after a few tense seconds.

"Completely." I nod. "A very smart person told me recently that I should do what makes me happy. That I should have a job that I love. And I don't think that running an insurance company is going to make me happy."

"Oh." My mom mumbles. I can see the realization cross her face at what I am saying. "I- I don't know what to say to you, Santana. I thought you wanted to do insurance. I thought you wanted to take over for me. I thought that's what was going to happen. You went to school for business. What-"

"I know mom." I cut her off. "I know you are disappointed and you can nag me all you want about it but that's not going to change anything. I just don't think my heart is in it. I don't know if I could ever been happy running a business and selling insurance for a living."

"You're right. I am disappointed. Santana, please think about this long and hard before you make a drastic decision to just up and quit something that could be so good for you. I do want you to do what is going to make you happy but I just- I- can't it be running my insurance business?"

My mom sounds sad and scared and nervous all at the same time. I didn't think I would see so much emotion out of her when I told her that I was thinking about quitting my job. I thought she would just shrug and say whatever and tell me to scamper off. It kinda makes me feel guilty. Like I am letting her down.

"I will think about it, I promise." Boy, I am making a lot of promises tonight. "I just wanted to let you know what I was thinking so that you weren't blindsided by anything."

"Thank you, Santana. I appreciate it." My mom nods solemnly.

"Your welcome. I'm going up to my room now. I have lots to think about."

"Goodnight Santana."

"Goodnight mom." I say and turn for the stairs.

"I love you." I hear her whisper behind me and I stop in my tracks.

I turn around halfway, the tiniest of smiles on my face. "I love you, too, mom. Goodnight."

* * *

Brittany POV

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

Pause.

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

I groan and roll over.

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

I open my sleepy eyes and sit up and look around my bedroom. What's that noise? It's the first thing I think. It seems to have stopped though. A banging or knocking or thumping noise.

Some sort of noise. I flinch. There it is again.

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

Except, it's not a bang and more of a knock. My sleepy brain makes the connection and I hop out of bed and scramble towards the bedroom door. I fumble with the handle, but on the second try I manage to pull the door open.

There it is again.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

The building is always locked and the only two people who have keys into the building are me and Mr. Carlson. Well, that and my parents but- It's got to be Mr. Carlson knocking on my door then, right? I hope nothing serious is wrong. Maybe he just ran out of milk or something. That happens sometimes he will run out of milk or sugar or something and come upstairs and ask if he can borrow some. Although, I guess it's not really borrowing if he uses it. But, he always buys me some to replace what he borrowed.

"It's like eight o'clock in the morning, Mr. Carlson. I was sleeping. What do you need?" I yell towards the door before I get to it.

I don't get any response from the man. He probably didn't hear me. I hope nothing is seriously wrong.

After what feels like ages, I finally reach the door. I grab the handle and turn and pull. My eyes widen once the door swings open. I think my jaw is probably on the floor, too. It's not Mr. Carlson standing there.

"How did you get into my building?" It's the first coherent thing that comes out of my mouth after a few mumbling and stutters.

She is standing there. Bashful, shy, little smile and her hands clasped together behind her back. She is rotating back and forth at the hips.

"Well, basically, I was sitting outside on the step hoping that you would come downstairs sooner or later. I know it sounds stupid but I didn't know what else to do. I just got it in my head and I did it." Santana shrugs and looks down at her feet.

"Okay, but that doesn't answer my question." I lean into the open door with my shoulder, my right hand holding onto it so that I don't fall over. I look over her and what she is wearing and-

She looks up. "Mr. Carlson let me in. He came out to get his morning paper and almost stepped on me. I guess he recognized who I was and asked if I'd like to come in. I mean, I'm glad that he let me in- uh- but I hope that he doesn't just let anyone into your building."

I smile and shake my head. "No. This is definitely a first. I very unexpected first, but a very good first, nonetheless. You know you could have called or texted instead of sitting outside for- how long?"

Santana ducks her head to her chin. "Like two hours." She shrugs and my eye widen for a second time in the few minutes that I've been awake. "And I did text you. I didn't get a response so I just came over. I hope that's okay. I mean I don't want to intrude on your life." She looks up to me again. Her big brown eyes unsure. "You were probably sleeping and I didn't mean to be a nuisance. I can go, if you want." She half turns away from me. Waiting to might a quick getaway if she needs to.

God, she is adorable. "Santana." I reach out and grab the hem of her shirt. Her eyes snap down to my hand. I giggle and pull on her shirt. "Get in here, you goofball."

She stumbles into my apartment and I shut the door. Santana nearly trips and spills the contents in her hands. What looks like two drinks in one of those little drink carries and a brown paper bag.

"What do you have there?" I nod towards the bag in her left hand.

"Breakfast?" She offers.

"I don't know." I tease. It's just too easy with her sometimes. "You did wake me up from my beauty rest. I don't know if I want to have breakfast with you." I fold my arms over my t-shirt clad chest in mock offense.

"An apology then. For waking you. I just- please." She practically begs. Those big brown eyes begging me to say I'll have breakfast with her.

"Come on." I turn around and head towards the kitchen. I don't hear her following me and stop. I turn around and she is just standing there by the front door. "Well?"

"I- I-" She stutters. "Britt." Santana sighs out my name, nickname.

"Come on. Let's sit down and eat. At the table. In the kitchen. A proper breakfast." I say. She nods and then takes a step a second later. I turn around and lead the way.

We both sit down next to each other and she opens the little paper bag and pulls out two giant muffins. "I thought I would bring breakfast seeing as you have made me breakfast on more than one occasion. Muffins and coffee. I hope that's alright?"

"That sounds awesome." She hands me a muffin and coffee.

We sit and eat in silence for a few minutes. I'm halfway through my muffin when Santana speaks up.

"I talked to my mom last night."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." She nods and pops a pinch of muffin into her mouth and chews on it. She swallows. "Mostly about work and what I am think about. I didn't want to make a decision, one way or another, and then just drop it on her like a bomb. I think that would be worse."

"Yeah, probably." I agree. "So how did it go? Did she like- understand?"

"I'm honestly not sure. I told her that I wasn't sure that I wanted to take over her business when she retires and I told her that I was thinking of quitting and doing what makes me happy."

Santana stops and looks away from me and I know why. She's embarrassed, or at the very least, unsure. My smile only grows because she did think about what I told her. About doing what makes her happy and all that jazz. "Santana." I whisper and she turns her attention back to me. I reach out and lay my hand on top of hers on the countertop.

"She was disappointed. She told me to think about it for a while before I make my final decision."

"That's a good idea. Don't want to do anything hasty."

"Right." Santana nods. "But, I really came over here this morning to thank you. You really made me think about my future and what I want to happen and what I want to do and where I am going with my life. Thank you for supporting me and pushing me to think about what I really want."

"Well, you are very welcome." I squeeze the hand that is under mine but Santana pulls her hand away. She turns in her seat to face me. I tilt my head to the side in curiosity. She leans forward, inching closer and closer to me, to my face. Her right hand comes up and cups my cheek and I lean into the touch. And she leans in and presses her lips to mine. I go to kiss her back but she is gone before I can. I blink my eyes open slowly. I don't know when they closed. "What was that for?"

Santana shrugs and slumps in her chair. "I don't know." She looks around the room nervously. "For you being you. For you helping me out. For you being the greatest friend."

I stand from my chair and reach for her. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and pull her up out of the chair. "Brittany." She says. I pull her into my body, into a tight hug. "I wasn't done."

"By all means, continue. Tell me how much you love me."

Whoops. The room is suddenly eerily silent. I let her go and take a step back. I stare at her and she is staring back at me with those big brown eyes. But they look skittish and unsure. I shouldn't have said that. I really shouldn't have but-

"Brittany." Santana cuts my thoughts off. "You're the nicest, most generous person, ever."

"I doubt that."

"Don't. It's true. I have never met anyone who has been so nice to me. It's not everyday that a- a- It's not everyday that- ah, fuck it. I really like you Brittany. Like really really like you and it's scary how much."

Slowly, a smile creeps it's way onto my face. The corner's of my lips twitch and then curl up, my cheeks lift, and- she likes me. It sounds so good. My immediate thought is _I love you_ but I can't tell her that. Not now. Not after what I just said a few seconds ago. "I really like you, too." That's more appropriate to the situation.

"Yeah?" She asks like she doesn't believe me.

Instead of answering her I step forward again. My eyes on hers the whole time. Silently communicating that, yes, I like her. I nod and she nods. I lean in and wrap my arms around her again. I kiss her on the end of the nose and then on each cheek and she giggles that heavenly giggle of hers. My heart beats a little faster and my head screams at me. I don't know how it happened but somehow I fell in love with this girl.

As we stand in the kitchen, Santana's head resting on my shoulder and me swaying us back and forth slowly. It's perfect. Well, almost perfect. But, it is definitely a great feeling. That warm fuzzy, fluffy feeling takes over my whole body. I sigh contently.

A meow breaks me out of my reverie. Lord Tubbington jumps up on the counter top and comes over by us. I look over at him.

"Good morning, Lord T." I whisper. I don't want to startle Santana, or the cat. He meows in response. Santana lifts her head and looks over at the cat too.

"How the hell does he get up there?" She questions.

"I honestly don't know. Cat are very agile creatures."

"But he's so damn _fat._" She whispers the last word.

I releases my hold on Santana. "Come on Lord Tubbington lets get you some breakfast, too."

"I think he could stand to skip a few meals, no offense."

I chuckle. "Yeah, but then he would be super crabby. And I don't want to have to deal with a crabby cat. Do you?"

She shakes her head. "Definitely not."

"Alright, breakfast it is then." I go to feed Lord Tubbington and I can feel Santana's eyes on my back. I bend over and scoop some food into the cat dish. She's watching me and I can totally feel it. It's weird but I kinda like it. I spin around back to her when I am finished. She's just staring. I smirk. "Santana?"

She flinches. "Huh, what?" She blinks rapidly.

"Wow. Okay." So I'm pretty sure she was just staring at my ass. "I was wondering what your plans for the day were?"

"Oh. I don't really have any. I had to come over here and tell you about talking to my mom but other than that I don't have anywhere that I need to be."

"Does that mean you are free to hang out with me?"

"I guess." Santana nods.

"Does that mean you want to hang out with me?"

She sighs. A happy sigh. "Yes, Britt, I want to hang out with you."

"Sweet." I do a fist pump.

She laughs. I really need to try all of the time to get her to laugh because it's one of the best sounds I've ever heard.

"What are we going to do?" Santana asks.

It's then that I remembered that I promised Sugar that I would hang out with her today. "Crap." I mumble.

"What?"

"It's just- I promised Sugar that I would hang with her today. But, you can totally hang out with us."

"I don't know about that. No offense, but that girl is a little strange."

I chuckle. "She is but I love her." Santana raises an eyebrow at me. "As a friend." I clarify. "Please, come with me. Sugar won't mind. Actually, I think she would like it better if I showed up with you then if I showed up by myself."

"I really don't know. Are you sure it will be alright if I come. I don't want to impose on your time with Sugar."

"No. She'll fuckin love it. I'm telling ya. Come on. Please." I sound so desperate right now but I don't care. I just want to spend the day with Santana. If she says no I don't get to do that.

"Okay, only if your sure." I can tell that Santana is a little apprehensive about this but I know it will be great.

"I'm absolute sure." I assure her with my most brilliant smile.

"Okay. I'll come with you." She agrees.

* * *

The car ride over to Sugar's place is quiet. The sound of the radio plays in the background. I'm driving and Santana is sitting in the passenger's seat. I glance over at her every now and then. And every time is she looking out the side window.

"Are you nervous?" I say when I see that she is picking at the material of her cast.

"No." She turns to look at me. "Why would you say that?"

I nod down to her hands. "You probably shouldn't pick at that."

She snaps her right hand away from her cast and tucks it under her leg and sits on it. "It's okay. I am a little nervous, too. I don't really know why but I just am."

I hear her sigh and know that she is in fact nervous. "Sugar can be intimidating. She's got a loud mouth and she always needs to know everything about everyone. It's a little, what's the word?"

"Scary."

I chuckle. "Yeah. Scary. You'll be fine. I promise."

I ring the doorbell and wait. A few seconds pass and I'm about to ring it again when the door swings open and Sugar appears.

"Hello Brittan- well, well, well, what do we have here?"

"I brought Santana with me." I thumb over my shoulder to the smaller girl behind me. "I hope that's okay?"

Sugar grins that evil, little, scheming grin that she has. "That's more than okay. Come in." She stands aside and gestures into the hall with her arm. "I did not know you would be coming with a guest Brittany but I can adjust our plans accordingly."

"What plans, Sugar?" I question. "We were just going to hang out and talk shit and gossip about other people. Like usual." I roll my eyes. She can't be serious. We always do the same thing. I love the girl but she is obsessed about the same things. Gossip and fashion. And that's all we ever talk about.

"Come, ladies." She completely ignores me and starts for the living room, I assume. I let Santana go first. She gives me a smile and walks after Sugar. I follow behind them.

"Have a seat. Make yourselves at home." Sugar says as soon as we hit the living room. I go over and sit down on the big couch, where I always sit. I watch Santana to see where she is going to sit. Sugar takes the seat in the recliner across from me. It leaves the only other option for Santana, the couch.

I smile and pat the spot next to me. She smiles shyly and comes to sit next to me.

"Well, isn't that just adorable." Sugar has to open her big mouth.

"Shut your face, Sugar." I yell. My face probably looks the color of a tomato. Great.

"What?" She throws her arms in the air. "I'm just observing what I see. That's all." She holds her head high, her nose in the air. Well, she is correct there. "That being said. Are you two finally together then? Like dating or girlfriends or oooh have you guys done the dirty?"

I hold my head in my hands. God, Sugar is so embarrassing sometimes. I turn my head to the side and peck through my fingers to check on Santana's status. Her head is ducked and I can she the tinge of red that splashes her cheeks.

"No."

"No, what? No you haven't had sex or no you aren't dating or no you aren't together."

"All of it. Just. No." I sigh. Sugar is such a pain in the ass sometimes. "I don't want to here anything more about me and Santana from you."

"So, there is a you and Santana?"

"No. Just- lets get to our usual subjects. I don't want to talk about myself anymore. Okay?"

"Fine." Sugar just shrugs. "Did you see who Jason brought into the bar with him on Saturday?" And just like that Sugar changed the subject completely.

"Yeah. Crazy Mindy. Who would have thought?" At least we are not talking about me anymore.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Misunderstanding

On the way back home all I can think about is what Sugar said when we first got there. About Santana and I being together. And we aren't. We're not together, but we have kissed quite a few times now, and I love being around her, and I think I might love her, but we aren't together.

But I think I want us to be. I think I want to be able to call her my girlfriend. I want to introduce her to people as my girlfriend. I want to spend all of my free time with her. I want her to be my first thought when I wake up in the morning and my last thought at night before I go to bed. I want to hang out on my days off. I want to meet her friends and family and I want her to meet mine.

I sigh and look over at her when I pull up to a red light. Her head rests against the side window. And she looks sad or like she is thinking about something too. She hasn't really said much at all this afternoon. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to bring her with me to Sugar's house. It has definitely ruined the dynamic we had going this morning when she showed up at my apartment unannounced.

"Hey." I reach over and pat her on the cast.

"Hmm." She hums but doesn't look at me.

"Are you alright?" I ask. I can't help but think something is wrong. Something is definitely up with her.

"Yeah. Just tired I think."

"Oh." I say. A car honks from behind me. I look up and the light is green. I hit the gas and make the rest of the journey home.

I unlocked my apartment door and let Santana in before me. "Do you want something to drink?"

Santana slumps down onto the couch. "Alcohol would really be good right now."

I scrunch my face up. "I don't have any."

"You're a famous bartender and know all the greatest alcoholic drinks on the planet but you don't have any alcohol in your apartment?"

"No. I don't drink."

"What? Are you fucking kiddin me?" Santana sits up and looks up at me with wide eyes.

"No."

"Like at all?"

"Nope. Not at all." I shrug. I don't see what the big deal is. I don't drink alcohol. I never have. It's just something that I don't do. It might be a little strange but it makes sense to me.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Because of my job maybe. I see all of these people come in and get all sorts of fucked up on a regular basis. Time after time. I just never wanted to do that."

"Soooo?" She lifts one eyebrow higher than the other. "People like me?" She points her finger to her chest.

I through my hands up in front of me in defense. "I didn't say that." That's not what I mean. That's not what I meant by that.

Santana gets up and stomps over to where I'm standing in front of the refrigerator.

"I was talking about the guys that are in the bar four or five days a week. Drinking and drinking. Alcoholic types. The regulars that come in every day and drink. Not you."

"Are you sure?" She says in a low voice and gets all up in my face. Her body an inch or so from bumping up against mine. Her eyes locked with mine searching for an answer.

I scrunch my face up. "Yeah, I'm sure. Listen, what is this really about? I feel like I'm missing a crucial piece of information." Things just don't seem to be adding up here.

"Nothing." She folds her arms over her chest and looks away from me.

"Hey." I say in my softest voice. I can't even be upset. Something is going on here. I reach out with my right hand and touch her forearm. "What's up? You've been quiet all afternoon. Plus, nothing is always more than nothing, which means it's gotta be something."

She huffs a frustrated breathe. "Come on tell me. Is it something to do with today? Did Sugar upset you? Is it something that I did? I know I shouldn't have brought you with me and subjected you to Sugar's harassment. I should have gone by myself or rescheduled with Sugar. I should have done it differently."

She turns back to face me and stare at me. Like really stares. Hard, angry, staring eyes. "I told you that I like you this morning." She growls out.

"And I like you too Santana." I really don't understand.

"No. Just listen. I told you that I liked you." She stops speaking and looks down between us at her feet. "And I don't take things like that lightly. And then we went over to your friend's house and you basically shot anything and everything down when Sugar asked about us. I thought that maybe we were going somewhere but maybe I was wrong."

"Oh." I see what the problem is now.

"You said it would be fine- when we went to Sugar's. You said- you promised." Santana mumbles and lifts her head to look up at me through her eyelashes.

"I know and I'm sorry. And I really like you, I do. I just wanted Sugar to shut her damn trap." It's the truth. I just wanted Sugar to stop talking about Santana and I. I wanted her to shut the fuck up about what we are when I don't even know what Santana and I are right now. Something more than friends, perhaps, but something less than girlfriends.

Santana looks like she's about ready to cry. I don't want that. That's the last thing that I ever want. I step forward and wrap my arms around her. She stiffens at first but after a couple of seconds she relaxes and her whole body slumps into mine. Her face buried into my shoulder.

"Hey. It's okay." I rub my hands up and down her back when a little whimper escapes from her. "It's okay." I assure her.

"I'm sorry. I'm just tired. I didn't sleep much last night. I was up half the night thinking- thinking about the future." Santana pulls back slightly until she is looking up at me. I give her my best, warmest smile. "I was thinking about work and what I might do. I thought about my mom and my dad. And I thought about you. Mostly about you though."

I tilt my head to the side and give her a curious look. "Is that so?" She nods. "Tell me more."

"I thought about much how I liked you. And I thought about the kisses that we have shared." She ducks her head timidly but continues. "I thought about how nice you are and about everything that you have done for me. I thought about those beautiful blue eyes of yours. You can understand why I didn't get much sleep?"

"Oh, I understand completely. I've been thinking a lot about you too. On the way home from Sugar's that's all I was thinking about actually."

"Really?" Santana looks at me with curious brown eyes. I nod. "And?" She asks timidly.

"Santana, you make me so, so happy. And it's not in the ways you might think. It's the little things. Sure, I love your kisses and your laugh and those dimples when you smile. And how you are so awesome. I don't even know. There's a whole list of things about you that I like that I could come up with but we would be here all day."

She giggles a little. "And that cute little giggle."

"Britt."

"I don't know what's going to happen a month from now, or six months from now, or six years from now, but I was thinking that I want you to be a part of that. I want to spend all of my time with you. I want you to meet my family. I want to take you out on romantic dates. I want to cuddle on the couch on Sunday afternoons watching movies. I think I'm addicted to you and I want to be around you all of the time."

"What are you saying?"

"I want you to be my girlfriend, Santana." I just come out with it. "What do you think?"

She bites her bottom lip in between her teeth. It feels like minutes pass by but it's probably only a couple of seconds before she gives me a response. "I think I would like that."

"Okay." I let go of her and she gives me that confused scrunchy face look. I drop down onto one knee in front of her and hold out a hand towards her. She gives me her right hand. "Santana Lopez, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes." She says immediately with a cute little chuckle. "You're a dork." She adds.

I stand up again. "Yes, but I'm your dork now."

"True."

I lean down and connect our lips, soft and slow. Sweet and tender. Perfect.

* * *

"Maybe now my mother will quit nagging me about getting serious with someone." Santana giggles. "She's going to be thrilled when I tell her that I have a girlfriend. Maybe not so thrilled when I tell her it's you."

I cock my head to the side. "Huh?"

"Oh, it's nothing. She just thinks, for some reason, that we- I- we were hooking up a while back now."

"Uh." What am I suppose to say to that?

"Don't worry Britt. Everything will be straightened out now. No pun intended."

I laugh. "Alright. I trust you San."

* * *

"But-" Santana takes a long pause and licks her lips slowly. She really shouldn't do that because it just makes me want to kiss them. "-there is one more thing that I want to do before we tell anyone."

"What is it?" I ask.

"I want to take you out on our first date."

"Santana." I wanted to take her out.

"No. Brittany, I insist. I want to start out right. Proper. A first date should be the first step, right?"

"I guess that makes sense." If she insists, hell, I'm not gonna stop her. "So, when's this date gonna be?"

"Well, seeing as you work Friday nights how about next Saturday night after you get done with work. Will that work out for you?"

"Definitely."

"Good." Santana says with a big yawn.

"You really are tired, aren't you?" I ask. She nods. "Would you like to stay overnight?"

"I would like to but- uh- I haven't been home all day. I left my mother a note this morning before I left but I should probably go home."

"Or you could just call your mom and tell her that you are staying the night at your girlfriend's house." I suggest. I really don't want her to go home. Not after what just happened. Not after we just sorta got together, officially.

"Brittany."

"What?" I say as innocently as I possibly can.

"I can't do that. I can't just call up my mom and tell her I have a girlfriend now."

I nod. "Sure you can." I argue my point. Not very well though.

"No. I want to tell her in person. And, if possible, with you there with me."

I smile at her. She is just the best thing on earth. "Come here." I pull her to me. "You are the absolute best. But, you should call her, leave out the whole girlfriend part out, and tell her you are staying at my place, a friends house."

With a shy smile and tired sleepy eyes she agrees. "Okay. I will."

"I'm gonna go in the bedroom. Come in when you are done, okay?" I tell her and rub my hands up and down her arms once and then let her go to make her phone call.

* * *

"How'd it go?" I ask when Santana appears in the bedroom doorway.

"Good. I told her I was staying here tonight. But, you know it is Sunday and I have to get up early tomorrow for work."

"Yeah. I know. I got some pajamas out for you." My right hand pats the pajamas that are sitting next to me on the bed.

"Thanks Britt." She comes over by me and picks up the clothing. "I'm gonna go change in the bathroom." She nods over her shoulder before turning to leave the room.

I follow her out of the room and go to the kitchen and turn off the lights there. I check on Lord Tubbington who is sleeping on the couch. "Night, Lord T." I whisper and kiss him on the head. I turn the light off there and go back to my room to wait for Santana.

A few minutes go by before she pops back into the room. "I thought we could watch a movie until we fall asleep."

"That sounds great."

She climbs into bed next to me like it's no big deal. I'm glad that it isn't. She's been here before. In my bed. I'm glad that Santana feels comfortable enough here. It puts me at ease that she is at ease.

I start the dvd on the tv across from the end of my bed. After that I pull the covers up over us when she settles into the spot next to me.

"What are we watching?" Santana asks. I can already hear the sleepiness creeping into her voice.

"Dodgeball."

"Oh, I like that one. Though, I'll probably fall asleep about halfway through."

The movie plays and I can tell that Santana is having a hard time staying awake. I nudge her with my elbow and she turns away from the tv to look at me with an eyebrow raised. I lift my right arm and she gets the idea.

She scoots over until she is nuzzled tight into my side. Her head resting on my shoulder and my arm coming around to wrap Santana up into my body. She sighs contently. I stretch my neck so that I can kiss her on the top of the head. "Go to sleep." I whisper to her. She hums in response.

It's not more than five minutes before I know she is asleep. The grip her right hand had on my t-shirt has loosened and her hand lays limp on my stomach now. The movie is only just over half finished. Santana was correct when she said she wouldn't make it halfway through.

I'll watch the rest of the movie and then go to sleep myself. But just laying here with her snuggled next to me feels better than I thought it would. I might have a hard time falling asleep because of how peaceful and beautiful she looks in her sleep. Like she doesn't have any problems. Like there aren't thoughts plaguing her mind. Like she doesn't have major decisions to make. I just want to watch her sleep.

I would love for this to happen every night. To fall asleep next to her. It would be amazing. Maybe one day.

* * *

I have a tray of drinks for a table full of customer's that are sitting in the dining room. Four females. They are probably in their early to mid twenties I would guess. My concentration is on not spilling any of the four drinks and four shots on my tray.

I hear the door bell chime to alert me that there is a new customer. I keep my focus on the task at hand. I round the corner into the dining room and slowly make my way over to the table.

One of the ladies smiles big up at me from her seat once I reach the table. I set the tray down and distribute the drinks to everyone. They thank me and I stand up, back straight, with the tray pinched between my arm and my side. The blonde lady nearest to me throws her shot back. Her eyes go wide as she swallows.

"Is there anything else-" I freeze mid-sentence. My eyes are covered. Someone has their hands over them. "Uh?"

"Guess who?" Is whispered, low, in my ear.

"Santana." I snap around. My back to the table now. "What are you doing here?"

She smiles that big Santana smile as soon as our eyes meet. "I came to see you. But- uh-" She points over my shoulder.

I turn back around and the table of women are looking at me curiously. "Sorry. Is there anything else that I can get for you lovely ladies right now?"

The table murmurs a bunch of no's and no thank you's. "Alright you know where to find me if you need anything." I tell them before turning my attention elsewhere.

I spin back around and Santana is gone. The smile that was gracing my face slips a little bit but I know she couldn't have gotten too far. I skip over to the bar. Yes, actually skip. I put the tray down on the counter and devote all my attention to the beautiful woman sitting across from me. "What are you doing here?"

"You already asked that and is it not okay for me to come see my girlfriend for a surprise visit at work?"

My smile beams again. Girlfriend. I really love the sound of that. "No. It's totally okay."

"Good. So how is it tonight going?" Santana asks.

I look around the bar. For a Thursday night it kinda average. "A little slow. Compared to last week that is. Some Thursday's are super busy and some are on the slower side. I think it depends on a lot of things but I won't get into them with you right now. How was your day?"

She shrugs. She taps her cast casually against the bar top. "Not too bad. Same old stuff. Insurance. Insurance. Insurance. My mom asked me if I've made a decision yet."

"And? Did you?" I can't help but cut in.

She gives me a half smile. "Not yet."

"Oh." I try not to sound too disappointed. It's her life and her future but I can't help but think that it's mine too.

She smirks. "Who do I need to bang to get a drink around here."

Whoa. Where did that come from? I feel the tips of my ears tinge red. Good thing it's dark in here and no one can tell except for maybe Santana.

"Uh- um- what?" I stutter. Shit.

She giggles at me. "Just get me a root beer, Britt. Please and thank you."

I nod and walk away from her to get her beverage. Trying to shake off the weirdness I feel after Santana's inappropriate comment. I don't know if I can explain the feeling. Uncomfortable isn't the right word. Anxious doesn't quite fit either. Something that's somewhere in between. My stomach feels like it's full of butterflies and I feel a little lightheaded. It's a strange feeling. But a very good strange feeling.

When I return she is watching the tv. "Whatcha watching? Anything good?" I set her bottle of root beer down in front of her and she smiles in thanks.

"Naa. Just the NBA."

"You seems to know a lot about sports." It's just another little something I've observed about Santana.

"Yeah. When I was a kid I would sit with my dad in the basement and watch whatever he was watching. Usually sports. Football, basketball, tennis, soccer, all the major sports really. But that was when I was a kid."

I can hear the twinge of sadness in her voice. "Hey, so you ready for Saturday?"

Her smile is back. "Fuck yeah. I can't wait."

"Me too." I smile back at her. She doesn't say anything and neither do I. We stare at each other for I don't know how long. I hear my name from somewhere down the bar. "I'll be right back." I whisper to Santana. I don't know why I'm whispering.

"Okay." She whispers back.

I turn and it breaks whatever little magical bubble we were in.

I come back but Santana is getting off of her barstools. "Hey."

"Hey." I mimic.

"I'm gonna get going. Oh, don't give me that look Britt. I wish I could stay but I need to get home. I told my mom I wouldn't be late. But-" She reaches out with her right hand. I take it with my own. "-I will see you on Saturday night."

I smile and nod like a love struck idiot. Probably because I am. "Look at you being all responsible." I comment.

She squeezes my hand and smiles that big smile. The one where her nose scrunches up ever so slightly and the dimples in her cheeks make an appearance. "I will pick you up, here, at eight. That's when you get done, right?"

"Right."

"Okay, see ya then." She pulls back on my hand. But I don't let her go.

"Wait, does that mean you won't be in here tomorrow night."

She ducks her head and shakes it. "I have a family thing that I have to attend."

"Oh." I'm a little disappointed that I won't be seeing Santana again until our date two days from now but I can't do much about it. "Okay. See you on Saturday then."

"I'll text you." She says and pulls her hand out of mine.

"Okay. Bye." I am a little sad to see her leave so soon but am happy that she came in and surprised me. I wave at her when she turns around at the door and smiles at me.


	18. Chapter 18

**Here is the much anticipated date night chapter. I hope you all like it. Enjoy.**

**Also, I hear that there is a poster for this story floating around out there on tumblr. I would like to thank tastethefailureonurlips for the creation.**

**Oh, I have a tumblr if anyone wants to ask me any questions you can ask away there or PM me on here. I'm ladstars on the tumblr. I didn't know if I wanted to give out my tumblr but I decided to. I basically use it to reblog stuff and keep tabs on what's happening.**

* * *

Chapter 18: The Big Date

I am beyond excited to get done with work tonight. I can't wait. Santana said she was going to come here and 'pick me up'. I still have no idea what we are doing or where we are going. I texted her and asked what we were doing and if I should dress up but all she said was to wear 'whatever' and that she would take care of the rest.

It's five minutes to eight and the door bell chimes. I look over and there she is. And damn. I think Santana is beautiful but tonight she looks smoking hot. Wearing tight black leather pants and a rather revealing loose, low hanging red shirt. She pushes her sunglasses up on the top of her head and my knees wobble a little as she approaches me.

"Catching flies?" She says with a smirk.

"Wha?"

"Close your mouth B. I know I'm smoking. No need to gawk." She looks down the length of her own body. My eyes follows the same path that hers make.

"Yeah." I gulp and meet her eyes again.

"You almost ready?"

I look over at the clock. "I have a few minutes left."

"But- you like own this place." She wave her hand around in the air gesturing to the room. "Can't you just skip out a few minutes early."

"Santana, that's not right of me."

She sighs. "I know. I just want to get this whole date night started already. I've been sitting at home all day just thinking about it. I think I might have driven myself a little crazy. I spent like two whole hours trying to decide what to wear."

I laugh. "That's cute."

"No, it's not cute. It's embarrassing. I've never put that much thought into what I was going to wear- for anything- ever before."

"Well, I still think it's cute. And, might I say, you do look stunning in what you are wearing."

"Thank you. I would say the same for you but-" Santana wiggles her finger at what I am wearing.

"Hey, these are my work clothes." I yelp. "I thought I would change before we go out."

"Yeah. Yeah. Don't have a hissy fit." She giggles. "I'll let you change. Although, it doesn't really matter what you are wearing. I'm not here for the outfit you have on. I'm here for you." A blush graces her cheeks and she ducks her head.

God, she just so awesome. A little sweet and a little spicy all at the same time. I giggle at my own thoughts. I make her sound like some sort of delicious food.

"What?" She asks interrupting my thoughts. "What's so funny?"

I smile big at her. "Nothing. I'm going to punch out now." I point at her and raise my eyebrows. "Don't go anywhere."

"Wouldn't dream of it." She reply.

_I love her. _

* * *

"So, where are we going?" I ask once we get in Santana's car and she starts out of the parking lot.

"I'm not telling you. It's a surprise." She turns and winks at me.

"Totally not fair." I huff and cross my arms over my chest and pout like a little kid.

"What isn't?"

"You." I huff again. Playing fake mad at her.

She doesn't say anything else. Just keeps driving, her head held high and proud.

* * *

We pull up outside a building. "We're going here?"

"Yup." She nods.

"No fucking way." I turn in my seat to face Santana. She is smiling at me like she just beat me at a game of chess. Smug.

"Yes fucking way." She mimics back.

"Santana, I've never been here but I've always wanted to go." I tell her excitedly.

"Well, you are in luck Ms. Pierce, cuz I have been here a few times. And if you would accompany me I will show you what this place is all about."

"Sweet." I say and jump out of the car and run around to Santana's side. She is getting out of the car when I reach her and I wrap my arm under and around hers.

We go to the front and enter the jazz club. The lights are low and from initial appearance it just looks like any bar one might enter on a Saturday night. People are milling about everywhere. The bar is mostly full, only a few empty barstools remain.

A hostess greets us in the entrance. "For two?" She asks.

Santana nods. "Yeah."

"Bar or dining?" The hostess follows up with.

"Dining, please." Santana replies.

"Follow me, ladies." The hostess turns and waves over her shoulder for us to follow her.

I let go of Santana's arm and she follows behind the hostess and I follow behind her. Single file. We enter the dining area to the right of the bar. The booths are full of couples out on dates and friends out enjoying their Saturday night.

A stage is set up at the back wall of the club. Sort of between the bar and the dining area. It's so cool. There is a little dance floor in front of the stage and dining tables surrounding it.

The hostess stops and gestures to a booth and Santana slides in one side and slide in the other.

"Here are menu, if you would like something to eat. Your waiter for the evening will be Johnny. He should be by in a few minutes to take your drink order." She nods.

"Thanks." Santana and I say at the same time.

I look over my menu. "I know what I am going to have." Santana says from across the table. I lower the menu and raise an eyebrow waiting for her to tell me. There is a long pause before she says anything else. I think she is just doing it for dramatic effect. "Ssss-teak." She finally says with wide brown eyes and a big excited smile. "They have one of the best steaks that I've ever had in my entire life."

"Well. That's good for you, I guess." I lift the menu back up to study it. But, I don't get the chance to read any of the menu items before it is pulled back down by Santana.

"What's that suppose to mean?" She says in offense.

"It just means that I don't know what I want to eat. And seeing as I've never been here before it might take a little longer than five seconds for me to choose." I smile at her to show that I am just messing.

She smiles back once she figures it out. "Okay." Santana finally mumbles. I'm about to go back to my own menu but don't get the chance as a man appears at the side of our booth.

"Good evening, ladies. My name is Johnny and I will be your waiter tonight." A young, good looking man with little brown hair and an enthusiastic smile, maybe in his early twenties says as he stops at the end of our table. "What can I get you lovely ladies to drink this evening?"

"Just water for me." I smile over at him.

I look over to Santana and wait for her to order. She looks at me nervously and then to Johnny. "Water too, please." I have a sneaking suspicious that she really didn't want to order water.

"Okay, I will be right back with those. Will you be ordering dinner tonight?"

"Yes." Santana confirms.

"Okay, great. Be right back." He smiles wide and then leaves.

I lean over the table so that I am closer to Santana. "Ya know, you didn't have to get water too. You can have whatever you want. Just because I don't drink alcohol doesn't mean that you don't have to either." I tell her in a quiet voice.

"No. No, it's okay. I'll admit that water wasn't my first choice but-" Out of the corner of my eye I see her right hand come out from under the table. Santana lifts it up and puts it on top of my own on the tabletop. "-I really want to remember our first date." The corner of her lips lift at the end of her sentence.

I want to do nothing more than to lean across the table and kiss her silly.

"Okay." I breath out.

Johnny returns with our drinks and breaks the stare that Santana and I have found ourselves caught in.

"You can totally tell me off and pardon me for being so forward but are you two on a date?" He asks as he sets our waters down on the little coasters on the table.

"Our first date." I tell him with the biggest smile, my eyes roam slowly from Santana to Johnny.

"Awesome. In my own personal opinion, from initial appearances and what I've seen in a short few minutes, you guys make a super cute couple. Adorable perhaps. I'd totally ship you two."

I can feel my face get redder the more he talks. It should be weird and creepy and probably offensive but it's not. I think it's just the kind of guy that Johnny is. Just the way he speaks and the words he uses, he makes you feel comfortable and welcomed, and like you could be friends with him.

"So, what can I do for you ladies on this special night?"

"Steak." Santana blurts. It's odd. It's like she is possessed or in a trance. Probably Johnny's words that did it.

I laugh. "Okay." Johnny says and writes it down in his little notepad. He looks over at me quickly and winks. "How would you like it done, miss?" He says to Santana, turning his attention back towards her.

"Well done, please. None of that pink shit for me." She seems back to her normal self. Johnny seems to have thrown her off for a few seconds.

"And for you?" He asks and turns to me.

"I'm in a pasta kind of mood. But, I don't want anything fancy, so I'll just have spaghetti and meatballs."

"Very well. I will let you get back to your date and bring your food out as soon as it's ready."

"Thanks Johnny." I smile over at him again. He nods and turns away from the table. "I like that guy. Very nice and he seemed genuine with what his side about-" I trail off and point between Santana and myself.

"Yeah. That was a little strange but he's alright, I guess." She shrugs.

I flip my hand that is underneath hers so that I can hold Santana's hand properly. She looks down at our clasped hands and then up at me. I smile takes over her face and in turn, I smile.

"This is nice." I whisper.

"It is." I say equally as quiet.

On the stage a band starts setting up. I bounce a little in my sit. I'm super excited to listen to some, I assume, good jazz music while we eat our dinner. It's not until right now, as I think about it, that this is actually a rather romantic date. Dinner and jazz music in a darkly light club. I look around and see that most of the other table are in some sort of similar setting that Santana and I are. Couples. On dates. Probably not first dates but dates nonetheless.

"Wow." I say without thinking.

"What?" Santana questions.

"This is- is- a really romantic date, Santana."

She ducks her head and tries to pull her hand out of mine but I hold tight to it. "It's too much, isn't it?"

"No. It's not." I can't see the blush that brightens her cheeks because of the low lighting but I know it's there. "Hey. Look at me."

Santana looks up and I give her a warm smile, silently telling her it's okay. "This is the best date I've ever been on and it's barely started. Thank you for bringing me here. I'm loving it."

"Yeah?" She asks unsure.

"Yes. Absolutely." I squeeze her hand to reassure her.

She smiles at that.

As if on cue, the band starts playing quietly in the background.

The band plays a few songs. And then they announce that the singer for the evening will start at nine o'clock.

Santana and I are alternating between glancing at each other and watching the band play and looking around the dinning area while we wait for our food.

"Brittany." It's not Santana's voice that calls my name. I snap my head to the side where I heard my name called from.

"What are you doing here?" It's the first thing out of my mouth.

He shrugs. He looks between Santana and myself. He eyes our intertwined hands before his eyes land back on me. "I could ask you the same thing but I am singing here tonight." He thumbs behind himself to where the band is on the stage.

"Oh." I feel like that's probably something that I should know about him.

"Yeah. So? What's this? A date?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

I look to Santana but she has her head ducked again. She nods slightly but doesn't say anything out loud.

"Yes. As a matter of fact it is." I confirm.

He looks between the two of us again. His eyes narrow on Santana before glances back to me when she still has her head ducked.

He smiles that little devil smile of his. "Well, then." He pauses for what seems like minutes but is actually only seconds. "Congratulations, I guess."

Santana looks up when he says that. "And the best of luck with your relationship." He looks to Santana now. "If anyone can tame Santana Lopez it would be you Brittany."

I see Santana's eyes widen and she grips my hand harder. She then narrows her eyes at him. I can see what is going to happen before it does. That she is going to go off on him. Bash him over the head with my her cast or spew some nasty words for offending her.

I cut it off though. "Santana." I say in a calm, low, gently voice. Her eyes swing from him to me and I squeeze her hand in mine. Her shoulders sag and I know that I've just disengaged her from any sort of fight with him.

He laughs breathlessly. "My point exactly." He smirks. "Enjoy the rest of your evening, ladies." He turns to go over to the stage.

"Thanks Jesse." I say after him. I see him nod and wave a hand in the air acknowledging that he heard me.

"I don't like that guy." Santana mumbles.

"I know, sweetie."

Her eyes widen but than go back to their normal size and she smiles soft and gentle. All because I called her sweetie. I'll have to use that one again if I get to see that bashful smile of hers every time.

It's only a few more minutes before our meals come.

"Here you ladies are. Enjoy." Johnny says and sets our plates down.

"I can't believe you got spaghetti and meatballs." Santana says as she eyes my plate.

"Why? I love spaghetti and meatballs. If you haven't figured it out yet I am a simple person. I love spaghetti and meatballs so that's what I got."

"Okay, Britt." She chuckles.

"Your steak looks really good."

"I told you." She jokes.

"I know. I guess I had to see it for myself."

Santana looks down at the steak and licks her lips. She looks back up at me and bites her lower lip. "Do you wanna try some?" She asks.

"Sure." I shrug.

"Okay." She says as she cuts a piece off and stabs it with your fork. She looks back up from her steak to me. She holds her fork out in front of her. I lean in a little. She leans in and directs the fork to my lips. I open my mouth and wrap my lips around her fork to pull the piece of meat off.

Santana slowly and carefully pulls the fork back out of my mouth, her eyes never leaving my face, my lips, most likely.

I chew. And it is good, great actually. "Mmmm." I hum. The juices and flavors mix in my mouth and take over my taste buds in the best of ways. I swallow. "It is really good steak." I lick the taste of the steak off my lips.

Santana nods. "Mhm." Her eyes still transfixed on me.

I smile and shake my head lightly. I focus on my dinner. We gotta stop doing this whole food sex thing. Although, it's fucking awesome so why should we stop.

"Do you want some of my spaghetti or meatballs?" I ask and look over at Santana again. She's still looking at me. "Santana?"

"Huh?" She shudders and groans.

I chuckle. "I asked if you wanted some of my meal?"

"Oh. No, that's alright. I'm sure it's good but I don't think that's a-" She trails off, shaking her head.

"Right." I think I know what she is thinking. It's not a good idea. Not with just what happened when I tried her steak. Not in the middle of a restaurant.

We eat our dinner in relative silence. A few comments pass here and there but mostly we just eat and listen to the music and to Jesse signing along to the songs the band is playing.

* * *

The band starts into another song and I stand up. Santana looks at me curiously. I hold out my hand for her. "Ms. Lopez, may I have this dance?"

She smiles shy and nods. She gives me her hand and I pull her up out of her seat and onto the tiny dance floor. I wrap my arm up around her shoulder and place my hand in between her shoulder blades. My other hand firmly placed in hers. I pull her close until there is hardly any space between our bodies.

I start swaying to the music. Soft and simple.

There isn't anyone else dancing but I don't care. This is great. The greatest date ever.

I look down into her eyes. They are filled with tears so I pull her closer until our bodies bump against each other. I don't know why there are tears in her eyes but I know that I don't want them to be there. I wrap my arm around her back tighter and hold her closer.

She doesn't resist and rests her head on my shoulder. Her breath tickling my neck. I sway us around the dance floor for another song before tapping against her back with my fingers. She lifts her head off of my shoulder and gives me a sad smile. Maybe it's not sad but it's- something.

I pull back from her and turn back to the table. Leading her by the hand. I throw ten bucks on the table for a tip.

I turn to Santana. "You ready to go?" She gives me a tight-lipped smile. That's all I need.

Johnny passes as on our way out of the restaurant. "Did you enjoy your evening, ladies?" He asks.

I pass with Santana at my side. "We had a great evening, Johnny. Thank you." Santana speaks up. I can hear the tightness in her voice.

"Yes. It was amazing." I agree.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. Have a great rest of your night." He smiles and winks. "Maybe I'll see you again."

"Yeah." I say and he is gone in the next second.

"I like that guy." Santana comments from my side.

I smile at her and chuckle a little. She joins in and I tug on her hand and pull her out of the club and into the night.

* * *

Santana drives us back to my apartment. She pulls up outside on the street and shut off her car.

I don't want the night to be over yet. I don't want our date to be over yet. It's too perfect to be over so soon. I don't want Santana to go yet.

I watch as she turns a little in her seat. "So?" She draws out.

"Stay the night." I blurt out. Smooth move. Her eyes go wide. "Sorry." I mumble and pinch my lips together with my thumb and index finger.

I chuckles lightly. "Britt." She reaches out with her non-casted hand and pulls my hand away from my lips. She doesn't just drop my hand, though, she holds onto it in my lap.

"I told my mom that I was going on a date tonight."

"Really?" I don't know why it surprises me.

"Yeah. I told her I was going on a date and that I might not be home." She smiles at me or her words or maybe both.

I duck my head. "Did you tell her who the date was with?" I ask quietly.

"No." She mumbles.

I understand. "Okay." She's not ready for that yet. Or maybe her mom isn't ready for that yet. Sometimes things just don't go as fast as I wish they would. It's a slow process sometimes. Whatever this process is exactly, I'm not entirely sure.

She squeezes my hand to get my attention. "Let's go inside." I look up and smile at her and nod.

We get out of the car and Santana follows me into the building and up the stairs to my apartment. I unlock the door and let her in before me. I flick the light switch on and see Santana already taking her shoes off, her back to me.

"Just make yourself at home." I can't help but chuckle.

She spins around and blushes. "Sorry."

"No. Don't be. I want you to feel at home here." I tell her and reach down to take off my own footwear. She nods and continues removing her shoes. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. Whatever you want."

"Santana." I sigh.

She stills. "What?"

I huff out a frustrated breath. "Fine." I chuckle. I walk over to the couch and plop down. I grab the remote and turn the tv on. "We can just watch tv." I start flicking through the channels when Santana comes over and sits down next to me.

"Britt?" It sounds like she wants to ask me something or maybe she wants to tell me something.

I roll my head to the side and look at her. "Hmm." Santana doesn't say anything though. Her eyes just roam my face. She scoots closer and closer and then rests her head on my shoulder. I smile and kiss her forehead. "You okay?" I know that she was upset at the jazz club but that had seemed to pass. I wrap my arm around her and pull her tight to my side.

"I suppose." She mumbles.

"Is there anything I can do?" I have to ask.

"Brittany." She sighs. "You are amazing." She looks up at me through her eyelashes. "You're so great to me. So thoughtful, and generous, and perfect. You know what to do to make me feel better when I don't even know what I need. You always now how to handle me. In every situation. You treat me like a fucking princess." Santana says. "At the jazz club-"

"San-"

"No, let me finish." I nod and let her continue. "We were dancing and it was perfect. It felt too perfect. It scared me. I got scared and overwhelmed and I- you just held me tighter and made it better. I don't know how you do it but you do. Brittany, I don't know how I got so lucky. And it scares me. What if I screw this up? What if I screw us up?"

"You won't." I tell her confidently.

"You can't know that, Britt."

"I do. I won't let you screw this up. It's not possible. I'm here for you in any way that you might ever need me and I won't let anything bad happen. And if by some terrible chance that something bad does happen, we will get through it, together. Okay?"

I look down and see the tears in her eyes again. "It's alright, San. Come here."

I scoot down the couch until I can lay down. Once I am I coax her to lay on top of me. Her head just under my chin with her ear resting against my collarbone. My hands rubbing up and down her back soothingly. Santana's fists grip tight at my shirt.

After a few long minutes Santana grip on my shirt loosens a little and she lifts her head so she can looking up at me. I give her a warm smile. "Hey."

"Hi." She whispers. She scoots up my body until her face is hovering above mine. She grins and slowly leans down.

Her lips brush across mine and she pulls back and our eyes meet again. She conveys what she wants through her eyes and I give her a little nod. She leans in again and connects our lips once more.

One little kiss turns into two little kisses which turns into a full blown make out session. My hands find purchase on her lower back when Santana swipes her tongue out and across my lips.

A moan escape me and when she does it again. I part my lips and Santana slips her tongue into my mouth. And holy crap. I moan again as her tongue twists and turns with mine.

I feel like I have lost control of my own body when my hips instinctively rock upwards into Santana searching for more. In return she slowly and what seems like somewhat hesitantly rolls her hips down into me. I rock up again and we starts a slow back and forth between the two of us. Rocking and rolling into each other in rhythm.

My hands roam up and down her back underneath her shirt. Her smooth caramel skin feels amazing under my fingertips. It makes me want to feel every inch of her skin.

Her hands are tangled in my blonde hair. Scratching against my scalp every now and then.

I pull my lips away from hers and kiss my way across her face. Across her cheek to her ear. I run my tongue along the shell before wrapping my lips around her earlobe and sucking and then tugging on it gently.

Santana moans loud and grinds her hips down into mine. I keep going and place opened mouthed wet kisses down her neck making my way to her collarbone.

"Britt, wait." Santana whines. My lips stop the assault on her neck.

She pulls away from me just enough so that I can see into her eyes. That look is back. The one from before. The one I saw at the club when we were dancing. The one I saw when we got back here and we were lying on the couch. Scared. Worried. Apprehensive. Hesitant.

I am so so sexually charged right now. But Santana. "What's wrong?" I ask and rub my hands gently over her back not in the sexually manner that I was just seconds ago. Calming and comforting.

"I- I want to- but I- we can't. I really want to do things the right way with you. Right and proper. And I don't think that sex after our first date is exactly right and proper." She says.

"I understand." And I do. I really do. As much as I would love to have that experience with Santana I understand that she wants to do this the right way. Even though I don't know her reasoning behind it, I understand it. "How about we just go to bed?" I suggest.

She bites her bottom lip and nods. I tap my fingers on her back and she leans up on her elbows and sits back on her knees in between my legs. The cool air rushes over my body and I shiver. I sit up after a second. Santana is still kneeling there. I wrap my hand lightly around the back of her neck and pull her the few inches closer to me so I can kiss her. I smile the moment before my lips meet hers. I kiss her soft and gentle trying to reassure her that it's okay.

"Ready?" I whisper when I pull away. She gives me a closed mouth smile and nods. "Good. Let's go." I grab her right hand and pull Santana up from the couch with me.

I turn all the lights off as we walk through the apartment with Santana's hand in mine the whole time. I push the bedroom door open all the way and flick the light on in there. Stepping into the room I let go of her hand.

I put my hands on my hips and raise an eyebrow in her direction. "Ya know, I've said this before, but I'll say it again. You really need to bring some clothes over. Especially now that you are my girlfriend because I anticipate lots and lots of sleepovers from now on."

She smiles shy and looks down at the floor. "Yeah?"

"Or- well- you could just not wear any clothes. I'd be alright with that." I suggest.

Her eyes snap up from the floor. "Brittany." She squeals. "You're not helping."

"Sorry." I'm really not. "I'll get you something to wear."

"Thanks." Santana sits down on the edge of the bed as I go for the dresser. I pull out shorts and an old t-shirt of mine from high school. One of those one's with my last name on the back of it. I like the idea of her wearing something with my name on it. So sue me.

"Here ya go. I'm going go to brush my teeth. Be right back." She nods and I slide out of the room to let her change in peace. I brush my teeth and wash my face and change into my own pajamas.

When I get back to my room Santana is changed and curled up contently in my bed. The covers pulled over her all the way up to her chin. She looks absolutely adorable. I lean against the doorframe. "You tired?"

"Yeah." She says around a yawn. I guess she really is tired. I'm not sure how she can go from making out and basically dry humping to half-asleep in my bed in a matter of minutes. But, whatever, I can't complain. Both are great.

I push off of the doorframe and cross the room in a few steps. I pull the blankets back just enough so that I can sneak in beneath them.

Santana is lying on her side facing me. Her big brown eyes are searching my face. I do the same in return. Just lying there and looking at her. Her eyes, her nose, her mouth, her cheeks, her forehead, her hair. All of it. Taking it all in. The more I look at her the more beautiful she becomes.

"Santana." I whisper.

"Hmm."

I reach out with my left hand and tuck her hair behind her ear. "You're beautiful." She closes her eyes and ducks her chin to her chest. "It's true."

"Brittany." She sighs.

I tilt her chin up with a finger. She opens her eyes again. I smile and coax a smile out of her when I lay my hand on her cheek. I rub my thumb under her eye across her cheekbone. I lean into her and peck her on the lips, quick. I sighs again.

I lean back and her eyes are closed again.

"Roll over on your other side." I instruct. She does and I reach behind me to turn off the lamp on the night table.

The room is blanketed in darkness and a scoot up behind her until my front of flush with her back. I wrap my arm around her waist and hold her tight to my body. I feel her move her hand until it overlaps my own. It's hard for her to hold my hand with her cast but somehow she manages to. She pulls our joined hands up to her chest and holds them there.

I take in a deep breath. This feels so good. To just be lying here with Santana in my arms. It's seriously one of the most amazing feelings I've ever experienced.

I nuzzle my face into her hair and the back of her neck. I place a kiss there. "Goodnight, San."

She squeezes my fingers in her hand a little. "G'night, Britt." She mumbles.

I can tell that she is halfway to la la land already. I wrap her up and tuck her as close to my body as possible. A few minutes pass and I can feel my consciousness slipping away. I'm almost positive that Santana is already asleep as I start to drift off.

"I love you, Santana." I whisper before sleep takes me completely.

* * *

**So did you like?**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Meet the Parents

_Santana's POV_

A little stray beam of light coming between the window and the curtains is what wakes me up. I smell the difference before I see or feel the difference. And I remember, I'm not at home in my own bed, but at Brittany's, in her bed. The smell of Brittany's apartment. The scent of whatever laundry detergent she uses and the smell of her. Her perfume and just her.

My other senses come to life. I feel the warmth from her body laying next to me. I crack an eye open and look over at her. The blonde is laying on her stomach, her arms tucked up underneath her pillow with the side of her face smashed into it, facing me.

I turn onto my side to face her. Brittany is absolutely stunning in her sleep. Content and at peace. I can't help it when I reach over with my right hand and rub my thumb across her brow. She twitches a little in her slumber but doesn't wake up.

I think back to last night. Parts of it kind of embarrassing and parts of it absolutely perfect and then there was the last part. That final part. The couch. The kissing. The roaming hands. The grinding hips. God, I'm such an idiot. It was amazing and I had to go and stop it, ruin it.

I could see the look in her eyes. Disappointment, probably, when I stopped things from go any further. But I just couldn't. I can't. It wouldn't be right. I can't do that to Brittany. I don't want to do that to her. I don't want her to be just another girl that I sleep with. I don't want her to be one of those chicks from college that I met and slept with just for the fun of it. They never meant anything. It's bad, I know. It's everything that my mom nags me about. Getting driunk and staying out all night and hooking up with random chicks.

The thing is, with Brittany, I won't let myself do that. She means more than some random hook up. I don't know how it happened. One day I walk into a bar and the next thing I know I can't stop thinking about the blonde bartender. It's scary as all fuck but I can't stop.

Brittany has been so amazing to me. I've never met anyone that has done so much for me and she hardly even knows me. It makes my heart swell. She gives me this feelings that I've never experienced before. Sure, I've had a couple of girlfriends before but I never felt half of what I feel for Brittany as I did for them. It's beyond everything else.

A smile tugs at my lips. Those feelings. Could they be.

Wait. Last night. Before I feel asleep.

_I love you, Santana._

That wasn't a dream, right? That was real, wasn't it? She whispered it into my hair. I know it was real. It had to be. I could feel it not just hear it. Like her words seeped into my body through my hair and skin.

I smile and lean forward until I can kiss her on the cheek. Brittany's face scrunches up at the feeling of my lips on her skin. She's so adorable.

"Britt-Britt." I whisper against her skin.

She smashes her face further into the pillow. I scoot closer until I can wrap on arm around her back and rest my chin on her arm.

"Wakey-wakey." I breath in her ear. She groans and tries to twitch away from me but I hold her down.

"What time's it?" She mumbles.

"Don't know." I tell her. "Don't really care."

"Mmmm." She hums. "You seems very- chipper this morning." She peeks an eye open and turns her head until she can spy me.

"I feel like a million bucks." I tell her and nuzzle my cheek into her shoulder.

"Wow."

"Yeah. And I think we should get up, get dressed, and go out for breakfast." I don't know when I decided to plan the whole morning out or when I did it. But I have this whole idea for how the day should go. And I want to get up and do it with Brittany.

She raises an eyebrow. "I don't know. All this _eating out _is gonna make me fat."

My face falls. Christ. The room falls silent except for our breathing. I thought I was terrible with the sex jokes and the innuendo. This girl is going to kill me.

"Uh- um." I finally stutter out. It's not very intelligent or eloquent but fuck it. "I- I-"

Brittany starts laughing. "What?"

She shrugs me off of her shoulder and rolls over onto her back. I find myself immediately moving to the space at her side. She wraps her arm around me and I cuddle into her side. "Your face. It was priceless. I should make more crude jokes if I get to see that cute flabbergasted face every time."

"Brittany." I scold. It's not funny to me.

"Hmm?" She hums, her fingers tracing up and down my arm slowly.

I feel like I need to tell her and that if I don't do it right now then I don't know when I will work up enough courage to again.

"I've never really taken things slow with a girl before." I say all of a sudden. This is it. "In college it was just a bunch of fun and drunken one night stands or hook ups with chicks that I had no interest in have a relationship with."

She stills her finger movement on my arm. "Hmm." She hums.

"That's all you have to say? Hmm?" Brittany seems rather blasé about this.

"Well, no." She shrugs her shoulders the best she can. "But what do you want me to say? I kind of figure that's the way it was with you."

"Oh." I pause to think over her words. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah. Santana, I'm a bartender. I like to think of myself as any expert at reading people and seeing how they carry themselves. I can sorta predict how they are gonna behave. Humans are creatures of habit. They tend to fall into certain categories. Drunk or otherwise. People behave in certain ways and stick to certain patterns. It's simple if you think about it."

God, she's a fucking genius.

"Woah." I breathe out.

She chuckles. "Didn't mean to drop that little bomb of wisdom on you this early in the morning."

"Yeah." She's right. It's too early for that much thinking.

We lay together in silence for a few minutes after that. Me idly tracing patterns with my fingertips over the shirt covering her stomach. I think over her words and think over my own words.

"Britt?" I whisper.

"Yeah." She resumes her stroking of my arm. It's so calming and soothing I could fall asleep again.

"That might be who I am but not anymore. Not with you."

Her fingers still on my arm. "Oh." And I know she understands what I am saying.

"It's just that you are special to me and I respect you too much and want to do it right. I don't want you to be just another one night stand."

"But-"

"Let me." I press my finger to her lips to shush her. "We are friends. And I don't have a lot of really close friends. And I would hate to loose that if something happened that I wasn't ready for or you weren't ready for. As much as I want to- I think that us having sex now could jeopardize the friendship that we have recently built."

"But I-"

"Shhh." I smile. "As scary as it is, I am serious about you. About you and me. What you and I have is beyond anything. And that's scares me but I want- I want- I just want. I want you. I do. In every way. I'm so serious about you that I've never felt anything like it before."

Brittany's eyes are soft. The lightest blue I've ever seen them. "I'm not good talking about my feelings. I probably sound like a crazy person right now." I hide my face in her shoulder.

"No. That was beautiful. You are beautiful. And thank you for telling me all of that. Come here." I feel her finger under my chin and I let her lift it up. She lifts my chin up and twist her own neck around. She kisses me. Her kisses are the softest, gentlest kisses. All tender and caring. She takes my bottom lip in between hers and then alternates to my top lips and I feel like I'm flying.

She pulls away and I sigh. My eyes flickering open to see Brittany smiling up at me.

"So, about breakfast?" I ask after a few seconds of us just staring at each other and smiling like idiots.

"What about it?"

"I have this feeling that I want to show off my awesome awesome girlfriend. To everybody. Starting with breakfast and then maybe if I'm still feeling like a million bucks maybe even my parents."

Brittany's eyes go wide. "Really?" She asks me.

I nod. "My mom's probably at church this morning but maybe this afternoon we could go over there and tell her."

"I like that idea." She says and kisses me on the top of my head. "But I have an idea of my own. Maybe add to your idea."

"Yeah?"

"Mhmm. What if I call my parents up and ask if I can come over for lunch? And then we could go over there and announce our new status."

I wrap my arm tight around her waist. "I like that idea."

"And then after we can go over to your house and tell your parents." Brittany suggests.

"That sounds prefect, Britt." I hug her tight.

"But first we eat out." She giggles like a thirteen year old girl.

"You're terrible." I mumble.

"Oh, admit it, you like it."

"Maybe." I mumble into her shoulder. And I do like it.

"Okay. Now that that's settled. I'm gonna go call my mom and you can get that beautiful little body of yours dressed so we can go out to eat. Sound good?"

I can feel the heat rushing to my face and the blush, that I will deny, flushing my cheeks. I clear my suddenly dry throat. "Sounds perfect."

Brittany makes me feel like a shy little school girl. I don't know how she does it because I have never been shy when it comes to my body or sex but she just has this way of pulling it out of me.

She taps my arm and I sit up and she gets out of bed. I feel cold now that she is gone and I miss her warmth already and she isn't even out of the room yet.

She gets to the door and turns the handle. She pulls the door open and smiles at me. She gives me a little wink and is gone.

At first I don't make a move. I hear Brittany talking to Lord Tubbington first and then a few seconds after that talking to, I assume, her mom on the phone.

I smile like an idiot. Today is gonna be awesome. I can feel it.

* * *

"Alright, just follow my lead. Let me do all the talking."

"Okay." I'll admit, as we approach the front door, that I'm nervous. I've seen Brittany's parents around the bar on Friday and Saturday nights and her dad's even been in my house but this is something totally different. I'm not just meeting them as a friend or a buddy or something. I'm meeting them as Brittany's girlfriend and we are going to tell them that we are together. It's a little nerve wracking.

"I didn't tell my mom I was bringing you with though so-"

Brittany knocks on the front door. My eyes go wide at her statement.

A few seconds pass before the swings open and her mom is standing there, her mouth hanging open. "Britt, why did you kno- oh, I see." Brittany's mom looks between the two of us. "Well, come in girls." She says warmly and steps back.

"Tom." Mrs. Pierce calls through the house. "You might want to throw more meat on the grill."

Brittany turns to me and gives me a big goofy smile. It makes me laugh and I think that was her goal. To ease my nerves a little and loosen me up.

"Follow me out back girls." Mrs. Pierce instructs.

Brittany follows her mom and I follow Brittany through the kitchen and out the patio door onto the back patio. There are a number of lawn chair set up around the patio. Mr. Pierce is flipping hamburgers on the grill.

"Why do I need more meat?" He asks. His attention solely on the grill.

"Because Brittany brought a guest with her."

He spins around to face us. "Santana. We meet again." He grins wickedly.

"I guess so." I shrug.

"What brings you to our little barbeque this afternoon?"

"I brought her along dad. Is there a problem with that?" Brittany steps in.

"No. There isn't. No need to get defensive Britt."

She ducks her head. "Sorry."

"So Santana hamburgers or hot dogs. Which do you prefer?" Tom asks me.

"Hamburgers, definitely." I smile and nod.

"Brittany, how come no one around here seems to like hot dogs except for me and your mom."

"Dad." Brittany scoffs at my side. "Where is that little sister of mine?" I know it's Brittany's way of changing the subject.

"Oh, she's upstairs in her room." Mrs. Pierce informs us. "I'll get her down here."

"Okay." Brittany nods. "Let's have a seat." She says to me. I turn to one of the chairs and take a seat and Brittany is about to take the one next to me but stops.

"CHRISTI PIERCE, GET YOUR FANNY DOWN HERE. YOUR SISTER IS HERE." Brittany's mom yells. When she said she would get Brittany's sister, I assumed that she would go in the house, up to the girls room and tell her to come down, not yell at the top of her lungs for the whole neighborhood to hear.

"Mom." Brittany scolds.

She turns around towards her daughter. "What?" She even holds her arms out at her side like she didn't do anything wrong.

"The whole block probably heard you." Brittany adds and I try not to giggle. It's funny, her and her mom.

"So. They love me."

Brittany rolls her eyes and finally takes a seat next to me. She pulls her lawn chair tight to mine so that the little armrests are touching and then sits down and smiles at me. "Sorry."

"No. That was funny."

She leans over onto her armrest and whispers in my ear. "Well, I'm glad my family's antics are amusing to you."

A few minutes later a young blonde bounds out of the patio door. "Jeez, mom, I could have heard you a mile away."

"Christi, it's about time. Your sister is here and she brought-"

"Hello, who are you?" Christi cuts her mom off and walks over to stand in front of me. Her hands on her hips looking expectantly at me.

"Uhh-" I mumble and turn to my left and look to Brittany for help. I don't know if or how I am suppose to explain. I just don't know. Brittany smiles and pats my arm with her hand.

"Chirsti, this is Santana Lopez." Brittany says with a proud smile. I know what she is thinking and probably what she wants to say. _This is my girlfriend, Santana._ It sounds so good. It feels even better.

"Well, then. Santana. I don't know who you are or anything about you but from your initial appearance you seem ok." Christi says.

"Christi." Brittany growls low. "Stop it."

"Whatever, when is the food gonna be ready?" The teenager turns and asks her dad.

"That was rude. I'm sorry." Brittany leans in and whisper in my ear again. Her hand is still resting on my arm from when she patted at it. Her breath tickles my skin and a little involuntary shiver runs through my body.

"It's- it's okay. She just being a teenager. I was much worse than her at her age." I turn my head to look at her. Our faces are so close together that if I leaned forward just an inch I could kiss her. "Trust me." That last part comes out a little shaky with the thought of kissing Brittany running through my brain.

"I do trust you." She whispers and I know that she isn't talking about what I was just talking about.

"Alright ladies. Man, I'm the only guy here. Ah well, the foods ready." Mr. Pierce spins around from the grill with a huge plate of hamburgers (and a few hot dogs) and sets them down on the picnic table. "Let's eat."

Brittany and I get up from our lawn chairs and go sit at the table with the rest of the Pierce family. I'm about to sit down when Brittany taps me on the shoulder and point to her left. "Sit there." She mouths. I nod and sit where she says. I don't know why she wants me to sit in that specific spot though. She takes the spot on my right and her parents and her sister all sit on the other side of the picnic table.

The plate of meat gets passed around the table. I take a hamburger and pass the plate to Brittany. It's quiet while everyone fixes their hamburgers or hot dogs with condiments.

It's Mr. Pierce who breaks the silence. "So, Santana, how is that wall of yours?" His wife and his youngest daughter turn to him with questioning eyes.

"It's fine, thank you for coming to fix it."

"No problem dear, it's my job." He smiles over at me and I duck my head.

"What are you two talking about, Tom?" Susan asks her husband. "Are you saying that you have met Santana before today?"

"Well, yeah. First, I've seen her in the bar a number of times. Second, I repaired a hole in the hallway wall at her house. So, yes, we have met before today."

"Oh. I didn't know." Susan says.

"It's no big deal. I'm sure Santana doesn't want to talk about it. I'll shut my big mouth." I look up from my plate and the man is looking at me knowingly. I nod subtly and he smiles.

"Why wouldn't she want to talk about it? It's a hole in the wall, right?" Christi pipes up.

"Christi, just drop it, okay?" Brittany speaks up from my side. She knows I don't want to talk about it too.

"Why?"

"Because I said so." Brittany argues.

"Why? What happened? Is it scandalous? Did someone die?" Christi's eyes get really big with that last question.

"What? No." Brittany says at the same time her mom says Christi's name.

I turn my attention to Brittany. "It's okay." I rest my right hand on her thigh under the table. I turn back to Christi. "I lost my temper and punched a hole in the wall and broke my hand." I lift my casted hand for emphasis. "Your dad came and fixed the wall for me and I begged him to not tell Brittany, or anyone for that matter, what happened." I look to him. "And he kept his word and didn't tell."

He nods at me and I give him another thankful smile. The man has been far too nice to me and he hardly even knows me.

"Wow. Little feisty one you got there, Britt." Christi laughs and goes back to her hamburger.

I duck my head again. Shit.

Brittany squeezes my hand that's on her leg with her own. I look over at her and she is smiling like an idiot. It makes me smile too. I look up and look around the table. Everyone is too engrossed in their own meals to pay us any attention. I thought for sure one of Brittany's parents would have had something to say about Christi's little comment. But nothing. Either they didn't hear what the girl said or it didn't sound the way to them that it sounded to me.

And Brittany. I know she heard it too. That's why she is smiling at me like she just got the best birthday present ever. I get that feeling again. Like I want to shower her with kisses, all over her pretty little face. I sigh and reluctantly go back to eating my lunch. But Brittany still has a grip on my hand. I manage to turn my hand over though and hold on to her hand properly.

Lunch passes without any other incident.

After we are finished eating Brittany clears her throat and squeezes my hand at the same time. This is it.

"Mom and dad. Uh- and Christi. I have something I need to tell you guys."

I watch their reactions. Brittany's mom's eyes go wide. "Oh my god, are you pregnant?" Her mom shouts right away. "Am I going be a grandmother?" I don't know if she sounds more scandalized or excited.

Brittany's dad on the other hand is sitting there with his hands folded on top of the picnic table. A knowing smile on his face. While Brittany's mom is rambling on about a possible pregnancy I give him a smile and a little nod to tell him that he is correct.

Tom turns to his wife and puts a hand on her arm. "Susan, she isn't pregnant."

"What? Wait. How do you know? She didn't even answer my question. Brittany?" Her mother rambles.

The oldest Pierce woman turns to her daughter. "Brittany?" She repeats.

I squeeze Brittany's hand this time.

Brittany's dad speaks up. "It's okay, Britt, just tell your mom so she can quite have a mid-life crisis over here." I see her look to him and he grins at her and nods. She knows he knows.

"Okay, let me rephrase my original statement." Brittany looks over at me and smiles and I return the smile. "_We_ have something _we_ need to tell you guys." She lifts our joined hands out from under the table and sets them on the table top. "Mom, dad, Christ, this is my girlfriend, Santana."

"Well, shit." Christi breathes. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"For what, exactly?" Brittany questions her little sister.

Christi shrugs. "To bag a hot piece of ass like Santana here."

"Christi!" Her mom, dad and Brittany all shout at the same time.

I divert my attention to my lap. I don't think I've ever met such a straightforward, say it like it is, teenage before. And that's coming from me. The person who told people just what I thought of them, good or bad.

"Honey, that's great." Brittany mom speaks up trying to break the awkwardness in the air. I look up and she is smiling brightly at me. "Isn't that great, dear." She turns to her husband. He just nods and smirks at me and Brittany. "Wait a minute. You know something I don't." Susan asks Tom.

"Not any more." He chuckles. Susan gaps at him.

Brittany starts giggling at my side. I turn at look at her and she is watching her parents. I lean over and kiss her on the cheek to get her attention. I sit back and she looks at me with wide eyes. "What?" I ask.

"You just-"

"They all know now, so…" I shrug.

I here a scoff and see Christ standing up from her stop at the picnic table. "As fun as this has been, I'm slightly uncomfortable now. All you guys looking at each other like one could devour the other person. Now that I am done eating I am going to go back to my room and try and keep my food from coming back up at the nauseating shit that is happen at this table. I mean seriously." With that the youngest Pierce leaves the back yard.

"How rude?" Brittany says in her best Stephanie Tanner impression.

I lean back and laugh. I have to grip on to the edge of the table to keep from falling off the bench. A arm wraps around my back and holds me up. I snap my eyes open and see Brittany leaning over me. I stop laughing immediately and smile at her. "You are so awesome." I whisper.

"You know it, babe." She whispers back. Before I know it she get closer and closer. She rubs her nose back and forth over mine. "I'm gonna kiss you now."

"Okay." I try to say and it's more of just my lips moving than me actually speaking. Brittany closes the distance between our lips and presses hers into mine ever so gently and then pulls back resting her forehead against mine. A couple of seconds pass, it's just her holding me in mid-air with our foreheads pressed together. I don't even open my eyes to see if she has hers open or closed. I can't. It's too scary. I feel the her shift and her lips press to mine again. I hum as she gives me a few more pecks on the lips before pulling me up and straightening out in our seats.

I open my eyes and the back yard seems to be spinning. "Whoa." I blink a few times and take a deep breath.

"You okay?" Brittany asks gently.

I nod after I get my bearings again. "All good." I am more than good. I'm great. Fabulous. Ecstatic. The mind clears and only one thought runs through it. _I love her. Brittany. I love Brittany._

"Good." She kisses me on the cheek.

"Wow." Is the next thing I know or hear. I turn to where the voice came from. Brittany's mom. "You two are absolutely adorable."

"Mom." Brittany whines.

"Thanks." I whisper and can feel the blush on my cheeks. Her mom is looking at us like- I don't know what like. She looks from me to Brittany and smiles creepily and looks back to me.

Brittany must notice it too. "We should get going. Thanks for having us for lunch but we have somewhere else we need to go."

Oh shit. That's right. My parents. I had completely forgot we were going over there. I was enjoying my afternoon with the Pierce's so much.

Brittany stands up and I join her. "Thank you for lunch. It was great. I hope we can do this again sometime soon. I had a great time." I tell them and it's all true. It feels good.

Brittany smiles at me and takes my hand. "You are welcome, Santana. And you are welcome to come over anytime you want. You are part of this family now." Susan tells me and I am so overwhelmed by her words that I can't even speak. All I can do is nod in agreement.

"I'll see you tomorrow mom." Brittany says. "Bye, dad."

"Bye, honey." Her parents say in unison.

Brittany leads me out of the back yard and through the house and out front to the car. "That went well. I just hope it goes well with your parents." Brittany says as we get in the car.

"I hope so too." I say and start the car.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Meet the Parents: Part Two

We're in the car. It's stopped. Parked in the Lopez driveway.

"My mom is home." Santana says from the driver's seat. More like whispers actually.

"Okay." I mumble. I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse.

"Are you ready?" She asks and looks over at me.

"No." I whisper and look down to my hands. My fingers playing with each other nervously. I don't know why I am so nervous right now. Everything went well when we told my parents that we were together. Maybe it has something to do with all of the things Santana has told me about her mom. They make her sound sort of scary and intimidating. That's probably it. Plus, there the fact that Santana's mom has all of these strange visions of how her daughters life should go. It's a little overwhelming.

"Brittany."

"Hmm." I hum.

"Brittany." Santana says again and I see her hand reach over and she places it on top of my fidgety hands. "It's gonna be fine. I know I might have made my mom sound kinda scary but she's not a monster. She loves me and wants the best for me but she just has a weird way of showing it."

"Okay." I say not convinced.

"And if it isn't okay, I'm not going anywhere. You and me, no matter how this goes, we'll be together."

"Okay." I say again. I feel a little better about that.

"Britt?"

"Yeah." I finally look up and over at her. She is a lot closer to me than I expected. Like her face is inches away.

"I'm gonna kiss you now." She gives me that cute little smirk of hers.

I nod and lean in closer to her until our lips connect. Her hand comes up and cups my neck behind my ear and pulls me closer. I feel her tongue graze along my bottom lip and open my mouth in response. Santana's tongue slips into my mouth rolling around with my tongue. A moan rolls up the back of my throat. I snap my eyes open when I hear it.

"Santana." I gasp and pull my face away from hers. She's looking at me with that scrunched up confused face. Her thumb rubs across the skin on my neck and I sigh. "We can't make out in your parents driveway. Not right now, at least."

She nods and sucks her bottom lip into her mouth. "You're right." She agrees. "Okay. So- let's do this."

"Okay." It's my go to response apparently.

"Don't worry, Britt-Britt." She releases her hand from my neck and pokes me on the nose.

I smile big. "Okay." I giggle. "I think I'm ready."

"Great. Let's get this over with and then we can make out, in the car, in the driveway." Santana waggles her eyebrows at me.

I shake me head at her. "Right." When did she get so bold?

* * *

We are sitting on a very expensive looking leather couch in the living room of Santana's house. I knew it was big. I could tell just by looking at it from the outside but now that I am inside it seems even bigger.

Santana is sitting on my right with about a foot of space in between us. When we arrived Santana let us in and called for her mother. The woman came into the entrance hallway and stopped when she saw that Santana wasn't alone.

After a somewhat awkward welcome Santana told her that she wanted to talk. The older Lopez insisted on getting some lemonade and told us to go sit in the living room.

So here we sit waiting for Santana's mom to return. A few minutes pass in silence and I look around the room curiously. There's a giant fireplace across the room from the couch with family pictures up on the mantel. I want to stand up and go over and look closer at them but resist. Maybe I can see them another time.

Mrs. Lopez returns with a pitcher of lemonade and three glasses with ice in them all on a fancy tray. "Here we go." She says and sets the tray down on the coffee table in front of the couch. The woman then goes and sits in the armchair next to the couch that is closer to Santana then myself.

"So, Santana what did you want to talk about? And why did you bring your _friend_ with you?" I don't like the emphasis she puts on the word friend.

"Is dad home?" Santana asks.

The older Lopez woman shakes her head. "No. He should be home within the hour, though."

"Oh, okay." Santana murmurs. I take my attention off of Mrs. Lopez and look to my right. Santana is looking down at her hands. I don't know if she wants to still go through with our plan or not.

"Santana." I whisper and she looks up at me. I narrow my eyes trying to see if I can figure it out without words. She smiles and shakes her head.

"Santana, I don't have all day." Her mother says sounding impatient.

I see Santana rolls her eyes and huff out a breath of air. "I have something to tell you. About me and Brittany." She looks from her mother to me and smiles and then looks back to her mom. "We're together." Santana says and holds her head high.

Mrs. Lopez narrows her eyes and looks between the two of us. She shakes her head after about a minute. "Well, it's about time that you settle down."

"That's all you have to say." Santana shoots back immediately.

"Well, no, but I didn't think this would happen so soon. I had hoped that you would find somebody and settle down but realistically I didn't think that would happen for a while." She shrugs and then continue. "I am happy. Happy for you and Brittany. I am elated that you are finally maturing and getting some things in your life together. This is the first step to a very successful life for you."

Now I understand why Santana can't stand her mother sometimes. She is indeed very intimidating. I understand and can tell that she only wants the best for her daughter but she says things that seem contrary to that.

"Gee, thanks, mom." Santana says sarcastically.

"Santana." Her mom scolds.

It's quiet for a while and I think that Mrs. Lopez is probably taking in this new information. She looks me over, head to toe. "Is Brittany the girl you have been spending your nights with?"

Now I feel a little uneasy. This woman makes me nervous.

"Yes. She is." Santana confirms.

Her mom eyes narrow on me. "We haven't slept together." I blurt out. I can feel Santana whip her head around at my side but my eyes are focused on her mom.

"Brittany." Santana whisper-yells. Her mom doesn't say anything though.

"It's all been very PG-13." I say.

"Brittany." Santana whispers again. "Please. Stop talking."

I nod. "Okay." I whisper.

Her mom starts laughing. Like, really laughing. Head thrown back in laughter. I wait until she is done before I ask my question. "What's so funny?"

"You, dear." Mrs. Lopez tells me.

I knit my eyebrows in confusion. "I don't understand."

"Nevermind, dear." She turns to her daughter. "Santana." The older Lopez smiles. "I assume that this is a serious relationship?"

"It is. Very." Santana confirms her mother's suspicions.

"Good. I'll admit that I was a little apprehensive but meeting Brittany and seeing how great she is, that apprehension is washed away. Brittany, my dear, you are a ray of sunshine, a absolute delight, I can tell already. You make everyone around you smile, don't you?"

"I- I guess." I stammer.

"She makes me smile." Santana speaks up. I look over to her and she is smiling that big brilliant smile. The one I love the most. I reach over and find her hand with my own. Santana smiles that little bit bigger when I squeeze her hand, our eyes locked together.

"I love your smile." I whisper to her. "I love making you smile."

"Ahem." I am pulled out of my Santana stupor when her mom clears her throat. I snap my attention back to her.

"Sorry." I whisper.

"It's fine, Brittany." Mrs. Lopez says and turns to Santana. "Does this mean you have made a decision about work?"

"Uh?" Santana says unintelligently.

An awkward silence falls across the room. Mrs. Lopez looks expectantly to Santana. Santana looks to me. I shrug my shoulders. I don't know what she wants me to do. Santana hasn't told me anything about her job. Whether she is going to quit or stick with it. She looks back to her mom and so do I. "No." She finally says after what feels like minutes. "I haven't. I'm still thinking about it." I can tell that she is uneasy about it, still. You would thinking after telling her mom that she wanted to possibly think about quitting and some time passing that she would feel better about the whole situation but I guess not. I don't blame her though. It's a tough decision. Whatever she decides will effect the rest of her life. That's huge.

I scoot over a little on the couch until my thigh brushes up against hers. I squeeze her thigh with my right hand and lean in and kiss her temple.

Santana ducks her head in embarrassment, I assume, because her mom is sitting a few feet away. I can see the slightest hint of blush on her cheeks but she tries to hide it.

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about Santana. I am your mother. I changed your diapers as a baby. Remember that. You have a very thoughtful, caring girlfriend. That is the very last thing to be embarrassed about."

Great, with Mrs. Lopez's word now I'm embarrassed. I duck my chin to my chest too.

"Mom, please." Santana whines.

"Okay, okay, dear. Seriously, though, Santana this is great news. But I do have one more question for you ladies."

"Okay. What?" Santana sighs. I look up from my lap and see Mrs. Lopez smiling at me.

"It's for Brittany, actually."

"Okay." Santana breathes out and turns to look at me.

"I'm ready." I tell Mrs. Lopez and she closes her eyes and chuckles briefly. "So, Brittany, are you the one who _influenced_ Santana to think about her future?"

I'm not quite sure what she is getting at but yeah I have talked with Santana about her future a little bit. "Yeah. I guess so." I shrug.

"Hmm. Who woulda thought? Well, I commend you. I've been trying to get Santana to think about her future for the better part of the last year. Ya know, find a nice girl, settle down, prepare to take over the insurance business, maybe start a family, and stop spending her free time out and about drinking and whatnot."

"Uh-" I have no clue what to say to that.

"Mom. I'm sitting right here. I can hear everything you are saying."

"I know Santana."

Santana huffs out an annoyed breath. "How about some lemonade now?" Her mom offers.

"Sure. I'd love some." I smile over at the older Lopez. She smiles kindly back at me and gets up to pour the lemonade. I nudge Santana in the side with my elbow. "Don't you want some lemonade?"

Santana scowls at me. "No. I'm fine." She huffs and slumps back into the couch.

While her mom is pouring me my glass of lemonade in lean close to Santana and whisper in her ear. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing really. I'm just- just- I don't know. Nothing. Alright."

"Okay." I say. I know it's not _nothing_ but I would pester her about it right now. I'll wait til later to ask her about it.

Mrs. Lopez hands me my glass of lemonade. I take it with my left hand, my right resting on Santana's leg. "Thank you." I take a big gulp of the drink. "Holy cow, that's delicious. Did you make this yourself, Mrs. Lopez?"

"Oh, please, dear, call me Maribel. And, yes, I did make it. I'm glad you like it."

"Thank you." I say probably too eagerly.

"Your welcome, dear. So tell me more about yourself."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you." She chuckles again. Am I that funny? "I'm not talking about Santana. I know all about her."

"Again, gee thanks mom." Santana mutters.

"Oh. I don't know. What do you want to know?" What am I suppose to tell this woman? I should tell her something that will impress her and get her to like me even faster.

"Anything. Your family. Your job. What activities you like to do? That sort of thing."

"Well, I work at the bar." Maribel tilts her head to the side. That's not really impressive, it's kinda the opposite, isn't it? "Uh- my family owns a bar and restaurant." I explain further. "My grandpa started it and then my mom took over when he retired and I will take over when she retires."

"Is that so?" She smiles and looks at Santana.

"What?" Santana questions.

"Nothing." Her mom says.

"Anyway. I work mostly nights like five to close except for Saturdays. We are closed on Sundays and I have Mondays off. So, yeah, that's pretty much all about work. I love it though. It's fun and I love interacting with people. I might not be book smart. I didn't go to college but I understand people. That, I do know."

"Wow." Mrs. Lopez seems in awe of me. Or something similar.

"Uh- yeah. My mom and dad have been together since they were in high school. Like seventeen, I think. I was born when my mom was twenty and I have a little sister. She's sixteen and a typical teenager. My parents run the bar but my mom is there most of the time. My dad works as a repairman during the week. I don't know if you know this but-" I look over at Santana to make sure it's okay and she gives me a nod and I know that it is. "-my dad is the one who came and fixed the hole in your hallway wall."

Mrs. Lopez eyes widen ever so slightly. "I didn't know. Santana never told me."

"I don't think she wanted anyone to know. She actually swore my dad to secrecy that he wouldn't tell me or anyone in my family that he came and repair the wall at your house."

"I didn't want Brittany to find out. I wanted to tell her myself- about what happened." Santana so of explains her reasoning with a shrug.

"I understand." Maribel says with a nod of her head. She isn't looking at us anymore. The Lopez matriarch is looking off into the distance. I can see the wheels turning in her head as she puts all of the piece together. Me and Santana and the information that we have told her today. She is putting every piece in the correct stop.

A silence falls around us. I take another drink of my lemonade and offer it to Santana. She shakes her head. "Are you sure?" She shakes her head again and then takes the glass from my hand and brings it to her lips. I giggle next to her as she takes a drink.

"That is good." She comments and hands the glass back to me. "Thanks mom. I haven't had your lemonade in a long time."

"Thank you, dear." She smiles warmly at her daughter. "Brittany, I am guessing that you and Santana met at the bar?"

"Yep. She doesn't tell you much, does she?" I joke and nudge Santana with my elbow.

"Hey." Santana grumbles.

"I'm just kidding. It's fine. You are a private person."

Santana rolls her eyes and sighs. She knows I'm teasing and that I'm right. "But, yeah, Santana came in, it was a Friday night and she was angry, I think." I look to Santana and she nods her head. "Yeah, and asked for something strong to drink. She didn't say hardly anything all night as she drank herself into a stupor. I had never seen her before. Like I said, I am good with people and usually remember someone after I see them once and spend some time serving them drinks. I knew that I had never seen or served her before. She was drunk and I wouldn't let her drive home so I called her a cab. I cut her off and she was mad about that and started yelling at me. Finally the cab came and I helped her out to it and that was that. That's basically how Santana and I met."

"What is it embarrass Santana day?"

"No." Her mother and I say at the same time and giggle a little bit at our timing. "That's very interesting first encounter." Maribel says.

"It is, isn't it. And then she came in the next day. She came in and started yelling about me putting her in a cab. I'm actually pretty positive now that she wasn't really angry about that but about something else and just projected it onto me."

"That's true. I had anger issues. But I am working through them now."

"I was intrigued and wanted to know more about Santana but she left in a huff. A couple of days later she came in and apologized for all of her previous terrible actions and for yelling at me. That's when I knew. I knew that I needed to get to know Santana and be her friend, at the very least."

"Wow, I just can't believe it."

"Me either sometime. It was a strange way to meet someone but that doesn't really matter now." I lean over and kiss Santana on the cheek.

"Well, I guess not. And even though it will probably bring further embarrassment I am glad that you two met and are together. I can tell that you care very much for my daughter and from very early on accordingly to your little story. And by the way Santana's attitude is changing in recent days and weeks and from the way she is acting today I can tell that this is serious for her as well."

"It is." Santana speaks up. I squeeze her thigh and she gives me a cute half smile.

"I'm gonna go get dinner started. Are you staying for dinner Brittany?"

I don't know. Am I? I turn to Santana for an answer. But before she can give me one we here the front door open.

"Honey, I'm home." A deep male voice echoes through the house.

"In the living room." Maribel shouts to her husband.

A few seconds later a tall slim man strolls into the room that we are sitting. "Oh. Hello, ladies." He goes over to his wife and kisses her on the cheek. Mr. Lopez then stands in front of the couch that Santana and I are sitting on. "And who do we have here." He glances from Santana to me and back to Santana.

"Dad. Have a seat. Please."

"Okay." He says and sits down on the couch right next to Santana. In between where his wife sits in the chair and where Santana sits in the middle of the couch.

"Santana and Brittany have an announcement for you." Maribel says from her spot.

"Wonderful. What is it?"

I like how happy he sounds at the news that we have an announcement and he hasn't even heard what it is yet.

"Dad." Santana addresses her father. I can't see her face because she is turned towards him but I know that she is smiling. "I want to introduce you to my girlfriend, Brittany."

"Well-" A brilliant smile, similar to the one Santana has, lights up his face. "-look at my little girl bringing home a girlfriend to meet the parents." He chuckles. "Come here." The man stands up and holds out his arms. Santana stands up and falls into her dad's arms. He hugs her tight and kisses her on the top of the head. I see him lean down and whisper something in her ear. It's too low and I can't hear what he says but whatever it is it makes Santana smile.

He holds Santana at arms length and looks her over and then his eyes flicker over to me. "You too." He raises his eyebrow at me and nods for me to stand up.

I stand up and step into the mans arms. He gives me a bone crushing hug. "Brittany, I don't know anything about you but I would love to find out. Also, I trust that you will treat my daughter right and with the utmost respect."

Mr. Lopez isn't at all intimidating, like his wife, and makes me feel welcome.

"Yes, sir." I mumble.

He pulls back and cocks his head to the side. "Don't call me sir." He shakes a finger in my face. I hear Santana giggle behind me.

"Dad, leave Brittany be."

He spins around to face his daughter. "No. I will not have your girlfriend calling me sir. It's weird. It's far too formal for my ears. Someone else, maybe, but I don't want that. Not from someone so- so-" He stammers for the right word. I don't know exactly what that word is and it seems that neither does he. "Just call me Antonio. Or Tony."

I nod. "Okay. I think I can do that."

"So, Brittany are you staying for dinner?" Antonio asks me.

I look over to Santana. "No. I don't think so. I should get home." I want Santana to have time with her family tonight. I think she should spend some time with her dad seeing as he doesn't seem to be around too much.

"I'll drive Brittany home and then I will be back." Santana tells her parents. Everyone nods and agrees. "Should we go now?"

"Sure." I say.

"It was very nice to meet you Brittany. I hope to see you around, a lot, now." Antonio winks at me.

"Yes, dear, it was nice to meet you and to hear the wonderful news that you guys shared with us today."

"Mom, stop it." Santana hisses.

"Santana." I whisper and she hangs her head. Her dad and I laugh.

"You two are gonna make a perfect couple." Her dad says and shakes his head like he is in disbelief. "Opposites attract." He whispers to me and walks out of the room. "See ya soon, Brittany." Antonio shouts over his shoulder.

"Bye, Antonio." I yell with a big grin.

"Let's go." Santana says, suddenly at my side, she grabs my hand, and starts to led me out of the living room.

"Bye, Maribel." I say over my shoulder and wave with my free hand.

"Bye, Brittany. Santana, will you be back for dinner?"

"I don't know." Santana says and pulls me into the hallway. "I might just grab something to eat later. Don't make me anything. I'll be back though."

"Okay." I hear Mrs. Lopez say as we reach the front door. Santana pulls it open and smiles at me and gestures for me to go first. I return her smile and step forward onto the porch now pulling her behind me.

* * *

We hop in the car and Santana starts it up. "I'm glad that's over." Santana chuckles.

"Me too. Actually." I sigh. "I was nervous about meeting your mom. She's very intimidating but after the more we talked the more at ease I felt."

"I could tell. But, it goes both ways. I was nervous about meeting your parents as well."

"Yeah. I guess it was all for not. Everything worked out wonderfully."

"It did." Santana agrees. She backs out of the driveway and starts off in the direction of my apartment. "My mom likes you, ya know." Santana says after a few seconds of silence.

"Really?"

"Really." She glances over at me briefly before returning her eyes to the road. "She does. I know she does. She didn't say it but I can tell she does."

"Hmm." I hum and process the information. "Well, that's good. She can be a little scary but I really like your dad. I see a lot of him in you."

"Britt." She sighs.

"I'm serious. And you look like him a little bit too."

Santana exhales loudly but doesn't say anything. The rest of the drive back to my apartment is in silence. And that's okay. I am thinking about today and how I met Santana's parents and she met mine. It all went well. Better than I expected actually. My parents were weird and embarrassing as usually. Santana's mom definitely made me nervous but I understand her and the relationship she has with Santana a little better now. Her dad was super nice and seemed super excited about Santana and me and meeting me. He seemed genuinely excited to get to know me, even though that didn't happen today. I am excited to spend time with him and get to know him more too.

"What are you thinking about?" Santana's voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

I shake my head and turn to look over at her. I realize now that the car is stopped and we are in front of my apartment building. "Oh. We're back."

"Yep. So, what were you thinking about?"

"Just today." I shrug. "How everything played out. There is one thing that I was wondering about though."

"What's that?" Santana shuffles a little closer to me. As close as she can get before the center console gets in the way.

"You were really quite today at your house when we were talking with you mom and even with your dad a little. What was up with that?"

"I just-my mom and I- we don't really share things with each other. I don't really like the idea of my mom knowing all about my relationship and what's going on with it."

"Hmm." I frown.

"Britt. It has nothing to do with you. I don't like talking about myself especially in front of my mom. We don't have that kind of relationship. That's it."

"Okay."

"Okay?" She asks. I nod and it's quiet for a few seconds. "Britt, I don't want to go back. I want to stay here with you." Santana whines eventually.

God, that sounds so good. "I don't want you to go either." I admit. I want her to stay over like she did last night after our date. I want to fall asleep with her, holding onto her. I want to wake up in the morning and see her beautiful face still in my bed. I sigh. "But you can't. Not tonight."

"I know." She reaches over with her right hand and puts it on the back of my neck and rubs her thumb up and down there. It's one of my favorite things that she does. She rubs over the little hairs there at my hairline. It's so calming and comforting. I think I could honestly fall asleep if she kept to doing it for a long time.

Her eyes are so soft and I wonder if mine are in a similar state as I stare into hers. She stares back, a little smirk crosses her features, and she leans forward, closing the gap between our faces.

When she kisses me, I sigh out. I rest my hand on the center console to steady myself and lean further into the kiss. I kiss her back harder and with more urgency. A moan escape Santana and I can't help but smirk into the kiss. I made her moan. My other hand goes up and grips onto her arm. It's kinda awkward but whatever, we're like two horny teenagers making out in the car. I run my tongue along her bottom lip and she gets the hint and opens up her mouth and I dip my tongue in. She moans again when our tongues start rolling around each other and battling for control.

When I pull back after pecking her lips a few times, I rest my forehead against hers and try to catch my breath. I look her straight in the eyes. Santana's eyes are somehow darker then their usual chocolate brown and full of lust. I can tell that she is smiling as she breathes hard. Or maybe it's a sexy smirk.

Santana tilts her head and disconnects our forehead. Her lips meet the corner of my mouth before moving over to my cheekbone and then my nose.

She kisses across my cheek all the way to my ear and then down my neck. It's very distracting and if I let her continue I know I won't be able to stop myself from jumping her bones right here in the car. "Santana- go home and spend some time with your parents- your dad." I stutter out. I tighten the grip I have on her arm and pull her arm so that her hand comes off the back of my neck and work up the strength to gently push Santana back so that her lips leave my neck.

"But-" She whines and pouts. And damn it.

"Just go. If this goes any further-" I point to her and then to me. "-I will have to drag you upstairs and completely ravage your body." I shiver a little with my words. "And you wanted things to go slow so- I want to honor that."

She giggles. "How very gentlemanly of you."

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna go now." I reach for the door handle and pull it and the door swings open. "One more kiss though." I lean across the center console and grab her bottom lip between mine kissing her gently before tugging a little and pulling back letting her lip pop back when I let go with a little pop. "Bye, babe." I whisper and go before I kiss her again.

"Bye, Britt." She manages to say before I shut the car door. She looked a little stunned after that little kiss and the fact that I was leaving. But I can't stick around because we will never say goodbye and I want her to go home and spend time with her parents.

* * *

I came in the house and feed Lord Tubbington his supper. I got myself something to eat and took a nice calm bubble bath. I'm now in bed watching the little tv I have set up on my dresser. The news is on. The weather is on and they are talking about the next work week. I thought runs through my head as the weatherman talks about how it might rain on Tuesday.

I grab my phone off the nightstand and open up the text message thingy. I type out the message and hit send.

_To Santana: have a good work week_

I put the phone back and turn my attention back to the news. It's only a few seconds before I get a text back.

_From Santana: yeah right. But thanks._

I smile like an idiot at my phone. That message is so Santana. I send another text message.

_To Santana: Goodnite San xoxo_

A few seconds later she texts back.

_From Santana: Goodnight Britt-Britt_

I hope she had a good evening with her parents. I think she really needed it. To spend some quality time with her family. I go to sleep thinking about her and the next time that I am going to see her. Whenever that may be.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Manic Monday

Monday morning rolls around and I get my lazy bag of bones out of bed at nine. Lord Tubbington meowing at my bedroom door actually woke me up. He wanted breakfast.

I wanted breakfast too. So I got up and fed Lord T and had breakfast myself. Then I changed into something comfortable. A sweatshirt and basketball shorts. My plan for the morning was to go grocery shopping and do my laundry. Typical Monday for me. After lunch I decided to go for a run.

I replace my sweatshirt with a tank top and my flip flops with tennis shoes. I grab my iPod and head out the door, down the stairs, out the front door.

I slow my run into a jog and then into a walk once I'm in front of my apartment. I pause in front of my building and look over at the bar. I need to talk to my mom. I stretch out my legs and head over there.

When I walk in the door I spot my mom and she sees me too and waves. I wave back and walk over to her. "Oooh. You're all sweaty." I comments and makes a disgusted face.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." I roll my eyes at her.

"Hey." My mom squeaks.

"I just went for a run."

"And? How was it?" Mom asks.

"Sweaty." We both bust out laughing.

Once the laughter dies down my mom eyes me curiously. "So, how was the rest of your day yesterday? After you left the house?"

"Good. We went over to Santana's house and told her mom and eventually her dad that we were together. It went will, I guess. Her mom is a little- uh- what's the word. She's fine but hard to get a read on, I suppose. And I can read people. Her dad is like the complete opposite though."

My mind goes back to yesterday when Santana's dad told me opposites attract. Maybe that's how he and his wife are, opposites. It seems that it could be that way. I smile at the thought. If they are opposites then he definitely knows what he was saying when he told me that opposites attract. It makes sense.

"Why are you smiling like a goof, Britt?"

"It's just something Mr. Lopez told me yesterday." I chuckle a little. It's funny now that I think about it.

"Well, are you going to inform me on what it is, or are you just gonna stand there smiling creepily."

"I'm not creepy."

My mom shakes her head and laugh. "No, you're not."

"I was-"

The front door flies open and the light from outside filters into the bar. A figure stands in the doorway. I can't see who it is from here because of the sun framing them from behind. The door swings back and starts closing. The person throws out a hand and pushes the door open again and it smacks into the wall.

I cringe at the sounds of the door hitting the wall. Looking around everyone else's eyes are trained on the door just waiting for the person to step forward. It's all very strange. Like something you would see out of a movie.

A few seconds pass before the person steps forward and I can see their head whip around the room frantically searching for something or someone. It's not until the door finally shuts and the darkness returns to the room. My eyes adjust and I see who it is that is standing there.

Panting heavily and out of breath. Eyes wide and searching. Bare feet. I stand up from the bar stool that I was sitting on talking to my mom and go over to the person. I am in a frantic mode now. My heart rate has increase and I feel all panicky.

I reach out and put both my hands on their shoulders. Looking the person up and down, for what I'm not sure, injuries, any clues to tell me what's going on.

"Santana, what's wrong?" Are the first words that leave my mouth.

"Brittany."

"What happened? Are you okay?" Why isn't she saying anything? Why won't she tell me what's wrong or what happened? Or why she is here in the middle of the day? She should be at work.

"I'm fine." She breathes out trying to catch her breath.

"You don't look fine. You look like you just ran from a pack of rabid dogs."

"I'm fine." The Latina says again.

"Then why are you breathing so heavily?" I'm really not convinced Santana is fine. She can't be. She isn't. "Here, sit down." I lead Santana to the nearest barstool. "Mom, get her some water."

"Okay." My mom's eyes are wide and worried but she gets a glass of water as fast as possible.

Santana sits down and I sit on the stool next to her. "If your okay, what's the matter then?" I lean as close to her as possible. She is facing forward, facing the bar. I stare at the side of her face. "Santana." I put both my hands on her left forearm. One rests on her cast and the other a little higher up, by her elbow.

My mom slide the glass of water in front of Santana. She takes it in her right hand and drinks about half of it in one gulp. She then sets the glass down.

"I was over at your apartment. Knocking on the door. I knocked and knocked and no one ever came. Not you or not Mr. Carlson. Which is stupid because I don't think you would have heard me knocking from upstairs in your apartment. I kept knocking though. Pounding my fist into the door. After about five minutes I gave up. I looked around and my eyes stopped on the bar." She stops and takes another drink of her water.

I'm not sure where this is going but I just have this feeling that something important is about to happen.

"I ran over here to see if your mom knew where you were or if she could let me into your building. I had to find you. I ran over here and pushed the door open. I couldn't see anything and tried to wait for my eyes to adjust to the light but they wouldn't fast enough. I had to tell you. I stepped in and the door closed and I saw you sitting there."

"Santana."

She reaches for her glass and brings it to her lips and downs the rest of the glass of water. She turns to face me. Our faces inches apart. "I quit my job."

"What?"

"I quit my job. In the middle of the day. I quit my job and ran straight here. I had to tell you. I ran all the way to your apartment but- I ran over here and found you."

"You what? You ran all the way from your work? That's over a mile. In those dress pants and that button down. You ran here? Where are your shoes?"

"I took them off and threw them in the street about a block into my run. You can't run in heels."

I laugh. "No, I guess you can't."

She's smiling now. "I quit my job. I walked up to my mom's desk. She was on the phone. I stood there and waited until she was done with the call and I told her. I said 'mom I'm quitting. I can't do this. I can't take over your business. I'm sorry'. She bowed her head and nodded. She was sad but she understands. She knows that I needed to do this. She knows that I needed to do what was going to make me happy."

"Wow. I'm a little surprised. Are you really sure that this is what you want?" It's the main question that I have right now.

"Britt, I've thought about this long and hard. And after yesterday, I knew what my decision was. After you met my parents and they were so happy and I was so happy. After I went home last night my dad asked me all about you. How we met and all that jazz. I knew then what I had to do. Thank you, Brittany." Santana leans forward and wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me in for a hug.

I bring my hand up to her back and pull her closer to me. "For what?" I don't know why she is thanking me. I didn't do anything. She's the one who quit her job that she was unhappy with.

"For helping me realize what I wanted. For helping me realize what was going to make me the happiest."

"Oh." Right.

Santana starts to pull away from me first. I let her go and look into her eyes.

"My job wasn't making me happy like other things in my life are." Santana raises her eyebrows at me and smirks.

"Me." I point to myself.

She giggles a little. "Yeah. You. Ya goof. Come here." Santana brings her hands up and cups both my cheeks. She leans forward and kisses me. I bring my hands up and wrap my fingers around her wrists and hold on. She kisses me slow and smooth. Gentle and full of love.

Holy fuck.

When she pulls back we look at each other some more. I have no idea what everyone else in the bar is doing. They could be watching us but I don't care. Santana and I are too entranced with each other to care.

My curiosity gets the best of me and I speak up and it break the spell. "What are you going to do now?"

Her hands still on my face and mine still at her wrist. Santana tilts her head to the side and scrunches her face up. Her nose wrinkles and her eyebrow crease together. "I don't know for sure. But I know that I am going to start looking for a job that I know I will enjoy. Even if that means not have any money coming in for a while. I will figure something else. Living at home will help." She shrugs.

"You'll figure it out. I know it." I give her a bright grin.

"It's cute. How much confidence you have in me." Santana comments before leaning forward and kissing me on the nose. She drops her hands from my face and my hands go with hers.

I slide my fingers down over her wrist to her hands and tangle our fingers together. She looks down at our connected fingers. Sure, it's a little difficult with her cast in the way but I managed to tangle my fingers with the ones on her left hand as well. To get her attention back I pull her hands up to my face and kiss the knuckles of her left hand and then the right. "Go out to dinner with me tonight." It's not a question.

She grins that half smile of hers and nods.

* * *

After we left the bar we went back to my place. I showered and changed and got ready to go out to dinner. Santana waited patiently for me in the living room while I was getting ready.

Before long I was ready and Santana and I were headed out the door for dinner.

"So, what's for dinner?"

"I hope you like Italian." I tell Santana with a little wink.

"Love it." She grins at me. I turn my attention back to the road and driving. There's no point in talking about dinner if we don't make it there. I pull into the restaurant parking lot. "I love this place, Britt."

"Good. I do too." I throw the car into park and cut the engine. I tilt my head to the side and raise my eyebrow comically high. "Ready?" Santana laughs and nods and opens her door. "Stop. Wait." She eyes my curiously. "Don't move."

"But-" I hear her say.

I open my door quickly and run around the car to her side. I hold out my hand. "Ms. Santana." I bow down in front of her. "May I escort you?"

"Why yes, Ms. Brittany, I would love that." I feel her place her hand in my hand and I stand back up to full height. I smile like an idiot at the same time trying my hardest not to start giggling. I can see that Santana is holding back a laugh of her own.

I help her out of her seat and close the car door. I then take her hand from mine. I hold out my arm and wrap her hand around my upper arm. "This way, m'lady." I nod in the direction of the front door of Breadstix. I focus on walking forward but hear the giggle that Santana can't hold in any longer. And I must say it's one of the most heavenly sounds I've ever heard. I start laughing too but keep a hold of her all the way to the door.

The hostess shows us to our seats. I show Santana to her seat and then slide into the my seat on the other side of the booth.

"Your waitress will be with you ladies shortly."

"Thank you." Santana and I say at the same time.

"What are you going to get?" I ask picking up a menu.

Santana shrugs. "Don't know yet."

"I think I'm gonna have spaghetti and meatballs." I say and set the menu down on the table.

"You had that the last time we went out."

"I know. But I love spaghetti. Maybe I'll leave out the balls. Just get meat sauce."

"Oh god." Santana laughs and covers her face with her hands.

"Evening ladies." The waitress says as she approaches the table.

"Hi." I say and Santana pulls her hands away from her face and smile awkwardly at the waitress.

"My name is Jan. What can I get you to drink this evening?"

I speak before Santana has a chance to. "I'll have a glass of water, please. Oh and can we get a bottle of red wine too."

"And for you." The waitress turns to Santana.

Santana looks from the waitress to me. I shrug and nod to the waitress and Santana turns back to her. "Uh- water, I guess."

"Ladies, thank you, I'll be right back with your drinks." The woman says and disappears somewhere into the restaurant.

"Why'd you order a bottle of wine? You don't drink." Santana asks as soon as the waitress is out of earshot.

"But we're celebrating. You can't celebrate without wine or maybe champagne. Maybe I should have asked if they have champagne. Or maybe I should have brought some with me. I could have got it from the bar."

"Brittany." Santana voice stops me from my rambling. "What are we celebrating, exactly?"

I give her my most brilliant smile. "You'll see." I tease. If she doesn't know or can't figure out what it is that we are celebrating tonight then I'm not going to tell her for awhile.

The waitress comes back with the water and wine and takes our order. I told her to just leave the bottle on the table and I will take care of it. That she didn't have to pour the wine for us. So she took our order and left the bottle with two wine glasses on the table.

I take the bottle of wine in one hand and a glass in the other. I pour the wine into the glass slowly. I put the bottle down on the table and reach over to Santana with the glass. "For my lady."

Santana smiles and shakes her head at me. "Your such a goof."

"You love it." I shoot back as soon as she says it.

"Maybe." She nods. And I know she loves it. And if I am being brash I might say she loves me too. But not out loud. That's more of an inner thought for right now.

Back to the celebration though. I raise my glass of water in the air and nod for Santana to do the same with her glass of wine. She does. "A toast." I begin and wave my glass in Santana's direction. "To new beginnings. To new jobs. To the future. Whatever it may hold. And to us."

Santana smiles at me shyly. "To us." She says quietly. If she didn't know what tonight was about before she definitely knows what it is all about now. I just laid it all out for her.

I wink and clink my glass with hers and drink a sip of my water as Santana takes a gulp of her wine.

After that the food came and we eat and make small talk. I don't really want to talk about Santana and what she is going to do now that she quit her job. I want to know what she has planned but I don't need to know right now. Tonight is about celebrating. Celebrating change and the future. But most of all I want to celebrate us and our new beginning.

"What are you gonna get for dessert?" I ask Santana as she drinks from her second glass of wine.

"What?" She sputters. "I'm too full to eat a whole dessert."

"What if we spilt a dessert? I really want dessert." I nearly whine. Dessert would be the perfect end to this dinner date.

Santana holds onto her gut and chuckles. "Okay, Britt."

"Sweet." I pump my fist in the air in excitement.

"Britt, stop, your gonna make me lose my dinner." She says between laughter. "Seriously, stop making me laugh."

"But I love your laugh. Whether it's just that little giggle of yours or a half-chuckle or a full blown laugh. It's like the best sound on the planet." I say honestly.

It's like time stops for a few seconds. Santana has stopped laughing and is just looking at me. Her big brown eyes soft, her head tilted to the side slightly, her jaw lax. She just looks at me with what I would describe as possibly adoration and something else I can't quite place.

Jan's return causes Santana to look away from me. I turn to follow her vision and look over at Jan too. "Dessert tonight for you guys?"

"Yes. What do you want San?" I could eat just about anything for dessert but I want to have what Santana wants.

"I don't know. What do you want?"

I shake my head at her. "I asked you first."

"Okay. Um- how about Cheesecake?"

"Mmm. Sounds good."

It's Jan's turn to add to the conversation. "We have Strawberry, Raspberry, Chocolate and this months special Turtle Cheesecake."

"Wow." I comment. I didn't know they had so many choices of cheesecake at Breadstix. "What do ya think?" I ask the woman across from me.

"I like Strawberry Cheesecake." Santana says shyly.

"Strawberry Cheesecake it is, Jan." I confirm.

The waitress chuckles. "I'll be back in a few minutes with that." She bends down and takes our empty dishes from our dinner and heads back to the kitchen or wherever it is that she is going.

I scoot over on my side of the booth until my arm bumps up against the wall. "Seeing as we are sharing a dessert, I thought maybe we could share a seat too. Get your tiny little butt over here." I pat the booth seat with my right hand.

"My butt isn't tiny or little." Santana protests.

"I know." I say sagely.

She narrows her eyes but gets up out of her seat and moves over to sit on the same side of the booth with me.

I wrap my right arm around her shoulder and pull her gently into my side. I place a kiss on her temple before she rests her head on my shoulder and wiggles her left arm between me and the back of the seat and holds onto my opposite hip with her hand.

"Much better." I sigh now that Santana is again within holding proximity.

* * *

After we ate our dessert we left the restaurant and came back to my place. I threw my keys on the kitchen counter and came in the living room to plop down on the couch. A few seconds later Santana plops down on my left side. I turn the tv on and wrap my arm around Santana shoulder and give her a kiss on the temple.

She takes my hand that is hanging over her shoulder and starts playing with my fingers and making patterns on the palm of my hand. At frist, it's calming and relaxing, Santana's fingers sliding across my skin. But, after a few minutes of me trying to watch tv it's not working. Her touches and caresses are a distraction. I wiggle in my seat a little to try and brush it off but it doesn't work.

A few minutes pass and nothing changes. I'm still trying to watch tv and Santana is still distracting me with her wonderful fingers.

Her lips on the back of my hand get my attention. I sigh and turn my head to look at her. She is looking back with a devious little smile on her face.

The next thing I know Santana is sitting in my lap. My eyes widen out of surprise. I wasn't expecting that. Her hands rest on the back of the couch either side of my head. My hands automatically find purchase on her hips and I give her a playful squeeze.

"Hey." I whisper with a tiny smile.

"Hey." Santana says back but with a big smile.

It's silent for the next few moments. Both of us just sitting there staring into each other's eyes.

"I'm gonna kiss you now." Santana says barely audible.

I nod cuz, hell yeah, I want to kiss her. She leans in and her lips press against mine. She takes my bottom lip between hers and sucking on it. A moan bubbles up my throat and out of me without any control. I can feel Santana smirk against my lips and then run her tongue along my bottom lip. My mouth falls open and she slips her tongue in. I moan louder as her tongue tangles with my own.

Santana's good hand comes up and cups my cheek and pulls us impossibly closer together. She runs her tongue along the roof of my mouth and I all but lose it.

My hands start to roam Santana's body. Up and down her side at first and then I slip my hand in underneath her shirt and caress the soft skin of her back.

In turn, Santana's hips start rolling into my lap. Her hand slips from my face down to my shoulder and she grips as best as she can to steady herself.

It's like my body has a mind of it's own. I don't blame it though there is a very sexy girl sitting in my lap. I start to rock with Santana. A back and forth sort of rhythm as her tongue drives me crazy as we make out.

Santana suddenly releases me and stands up. I watch as she undoes the button on her pants and then unzips the little zipper and pulls her pants down and steps out of them. When she is standing there in just her underwear I look up and she smirks at me and resumes her spot on my lap.

My hands go to her pants less ass and pull her into me and we start kissing again. I take control and slip my tongue into Santana mouth this time. She moans when I start rolling and massaging her tongue with my own. Santana starts rocking her hips into my lap again and it makes my head spin a little and a throbbing start between my legs.

"Britt." Santana whines when I move from her lips to her neck and start sucking at the skin there. I take the hint and slide my right hand from her backside around to the front of her underwear. With the lightest touch possible I slip my fingers over her underwear. I can feel how wet she is and wow. She bucks her hips into my hand as my fingers slide over her soaked underwear. I rub back up the length to the top to the elastic of her underwear. I pull my face away from her neck and look up to Santana. I wait until she opens her eyes and it takes her a few seconds but she eventually does. A silent conversation happens between us and she nods her head and gives me the okay. I slips my fingers into her underwear and Santana sucks in a deep breath and rests her forehead against mine.

I don't move my hand at first. I just marvel at this new feeling. But Santana's rolling her hips and I know I have to get to work. I put my free hand on the small of her back to hold her steady.

My fingers slip through her wet folds until I reach her center and slip into her. Santana moans as my fingers slide into her. I watch, I can't not, as she throws her head back, eyes closed tight, and grinds down onto my fingers. It's like the hottest thing ever.

Santana rocks down into my hand, my thumb presses to her clit. Her walls clench around my fingers and her whole body tenses as she falls apart. The hand I have on her back holds onto her as her orgasm hits her hard.

I few seconds pass and then Santana hunches forward. Her arms wrap around my neck and her head rests on my shoulder. I rub my hands up and down her back gently. I hear her sigh contently and it brings a small smile to my face.

Little feather light kisses are placed on my neck and Santana starts to wiggle a little against me.

I hold her tighter just because I don't know what else to do right now. Her lips make their way up to just below my ear. "It's your turn." She whispers seductively. A shudder runs through my body but I have other plans.

I reach for the remote and shut the tv off quickly. After it's off, I slide my hands under Santana ass and stand up, picking her up with me.

"Britt." She gasped, shocked at the sudden change. She clings to me.

"I'm not done with you yet." I tell her and carry her to my room and throw her down on the bed. She scoots up to the head of the bed and lays her head down on the pillow.

I kneel on the end of the bed, reach down, grab the bottom of my shirt, and pull it up over my head throwing it across the room somewhere. I don't really care what happens to it. I have my eyes on something else entirely. I fall forward onto my hands and crawl up the bed to Santana.

She is watching me the whole time. Her eyes follow my every movement. Her body responds accordingly. Her legs spread so that I can nestle down in between them. I rest on my elbows, my upper body hovering over hers. She's so beautiful it's almost too much to handle.

I lean in and kiss her. Gentle but full of passion. I try to convey every emotion I am feeling right now. The most predominant being love. I love the crap out of this woman and all I can hope is that she feels the same for me.

I slip my left hand up under her shirt and massage her breast. Santana moans softly into my mouth. Her hands slowly roam the bare skin of my back. I feel her finger fumble with the clasp of my bra and then it pops open. I lean back from kissing her and look down into her eyes. They're dark and I can see the love in them. She gulps and glances down at my chest. My bra hanging loose. I sit back so I can remove my bra completely. That's when it happens.

Before I know it I am on my back and Santana is straddling my hips. She reaches down and helps me remove my bra. Her eyes slowly roaming my chest. She smirks and whips her shirt over her head. Finally.

Santana is straddling me in just her bra and underwear and it's the sexiest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Like hot damn.

She bends at the waist and her lips attach to my neck. Her warm, wet tongue glides over my skin from my collarbone all the way up to my ear.

Somewhere along the way my pants and underwear get removed. I'm not exactly sure when though.

"You too." I groan as Santana's lips and tongue pay careful attention to my chest.

"Wha?" She mumbles between kisses.

"Take- the rest- clothes- off." A pant. God, her tongue is like magic.

I feel her smirk against my hot skin. She pulls back and removes the remaining undergarments before leaning down and connecting our lips once again. Our naked bodies pressed together.

There's only more thing that I want from tonight. I reach down to her ass, and grab a cheek in each hand, and pull her into me. It does the trick cuz Santana moans into my mouth. "San." I mumble when she stops kissing me and starts canting her hips into mine. "Together." She opens her eyes and looks down at me. I get lost in her dark brown eyes but I know that she understands. She nods a teeny tiny little nod to confirm it.

I squeeze her ass and she rocks down into me and I buck my hips up into her our clits rubbing against each other.

It's not long before I'm about to explode. "San, close." She kicks it up into a higher gear, if that's possible. Faster. I arch up and she grinds down and then I am seeing stars. Santana follows seconds later.

I collapse onto the bed and Santana flops down next to me. I am trying to catch my breath and I'm sure she is too. Like, holy crap, that was amazing.

We are lying there, backs flat against the mattress, in a blissful post orgasmic state. I'm trying to catch my breath as my brain goes over what just transpired again.

The mattress shifts and Santana rolls over. Half of her body draped over mine with her left side pressed into the mattress. She wraps an arm over my stomach. It's perfect. I just stare up at the ceiling, probably with the dopiest grin on my face but I don't care.

I feel Santana inch closer and then her lips on my neck just under my ear. Just a little nibble.

"Guess I don't need to borrow something to sleep in tonight." Santana hums in my ear.

I giggle. "Guess not." I wrap my arm around her and pull her tighter to my own naked body.

* * *

**There you have it. Let me know how I did. I am always nervous about writing sex scene. **

**I think there will be three or four more chapters in this story. I have some of it planned out but nothing is concrete yet.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Here ya go. Warning: Possible Cuteness Overload**

Chapter 22: I Love You

_Santana's POV_

I wake up and smile.

I am lying on my side, my arm draped over the warm, soft skin of Brittany's waist. My legs are tangled with her impossibly long, toned ones.

I open my eyes to look at her. Brittany is lying on her side too, facing me. Still asleep and beautiful as ever. I tickle my fingers up her side underneath the bed sheet. She doesn't move, doesn't even twitch.

I watch as Brittany breathes in deep and then lets the breath out. In and out. Inhale and exhale, over and over again. I reach up with my right hand and brush my fingertips over her cheek. Brittany's eyebrows twitch a little but she doesn't wake up.

I still can't really believe that this beautiful girl is my girlfriend. I can't believe she has stuck up for me and believed in me. I really can't believe that she put up with all of my shit. Nobody puts up with my shit, well, maybe my dad. But that's not the point. I was terrible to her when we first met. I was mean and I yelled and she just took it. I still don't know why but god I'm glad that she did and that she stuck by me cuz we are here now.

After last night, yesterday, I am more sure than ever that I love this girl. How can I not? She is amazing. I feel like the luckiest girl in the whole world. I know I said that I wanted to wait but last night was it. That was the perfect time, the perfect moment. And now that I think about it, today is perfect, as well. And what I'm about to do is going make it even more perfect.

A few minutes pass by, probably five or so before I can't help myself anymore. I scoot forward until my chest presses against Brittany's. A shudder runs through my body at the feeling of our naked skin brushing together.

I push forward and brush my lips across the skin of her shoulder. So smooth and sweet. I place kisses over her shoulder, across to her neck, up the side of her neck to her cheek, and coming to the my finally destination. Her lips.

I give Brittany a little peck on the lips at first. But, then, I kiss her with a little more gumption. She starts to stir a little. I pull back so I can look at her face as she wakes up. She grumbles, probably at the loss of my lips on hers. I lean forward again and kiss her some more.

Brittany moans and I pull back again. Blue eyes pop open and she smiles at me. "I love being woken up by your sweet lady kisses." She mumbles, her voice low and full of sleep.

I freeze. There's that word. Love. Now is the time.

I suck in a big breath. "I heard you the other night."

Brittany's face scrunches up. I can see the confusion in her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"The other night. When you thought that I was asleep." I clarify a little. I know that she knows what I mean now. I can see the realization cross her face and her eyes widen a little. I go on. "You said you-"

"I love you." Brittany cuts me off. "I said, I love you." Her face twitches like she's not sure if she should smile or frown. "You heard that?" She whispers and I barely hear her.

"Yeah-" I start to say. "-and-"

"I know, it's too soon but-" Brittany speaks up again.

I cut her off this time because she's wrong. "I love you too." I push her shoulder gently until she falls onto her back. I scoot over until my body rests over Brittany's. She spreads her legs and my hips nuzzle between her thighs. I rest above her, my elbows holding myself up. I look down at the beautiful blonde laying beneath me. She's looking up at me with wide, adoring eyes. I smirk and lower my head to her chest and start kissing over her collarbone. Brittany's hand grips the back of my head and holds my lips to her skin. I kiss all over her chest.

"Santana." Brittany sighs. I cease my attack on her skin and lift my head to look up to her eyes. Her eyes are closed though.

"Hmm?" I hum and lick my lips. The taste of Brittany's skin on my tongue.

Brittany eyes slowly blink open and she looks like she is in utter bliss. "I- I-" She stutters but doesn't really get any words out.

So, I lower my lips to her skin again. This time the skin of her neck. I start at the hollow of her collarbone and work my way upwards.

I reach her lips again and runs my tongue along her bottom lip. Brittany gasps and parts her lips and I sneak my tongue into her mouth.

* * *

After a intense make out session I stop to try and catch my breath. "Hey Britt-Britt?" I smirk stretch my neck backwards until I can see her whole face.

"Yeah?" Brittany is smiling but her eyes are still closed from our kisses.

"Is it weird?" My fingers of my right hand brush over the pale soft skin of her arm.

"Is what weird?" She peeks an eye open and squints at me.

"Me, being naked in your bed?"

Brittany's other eye pops open. "Oh!" She leans up on her elbow and looks over my body. The bed sheet rests on my hipbone covering my lower half. Brittany's eyes scan down and she bites down on her bottom lip and drags her eyes slowly back up. A finger runs up my right arm as her eyes return to mine. A second later her finger is under my chin tilting it towards her. Brittany leans in and connects our lips together.

"No." She mumbles against my lips. Her hand comes down and stills on my chest, right over where my heart beats. "It's not weird. Different, maybe. But, not weird."

I nod dumbly. Wait. Different?

"Ya know. Different. Like, I'm not used to it. Not bad, but just different." Brittany answers my question without me having to ask it.

"Oh."

"Yeah. And-." Brittany taps my chest with her index and middle fingers. "-for the record-" She then wiggles her eyebrows at me. "You are more than welcome to sleep in my bed neked anytime you want." Then she gives me her best brightest smile. The one that's all teeth and heart. The one that makes me love her a little bit more.

"Neked?" I ask with raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, neked." She giggles and I can't help but laugh a little too. Whenever she laughs it's like I have to laugh too. I don't know how or why but I just do.

"Ok, Britt." I sigh and duck my head down and under her chin. Brittany corresponds and rests her chin on the top of my head and wraps her arms around me and holds me close to her.

I don't want to be anywhere else. I don't want to go anywhere else. "Can we just stay here like this all day?" I whisper.

"Hmm. I would like that but I actually had a plan in mind for the day." Brittany says and kisses the top of my head.

"You and your plans."

"What? Don't hate on my plans. You don't even know what they are yet." She says never letting me go. Actually, her hands are rubbing soothing paths up and down my back. If I don't get out of bed soon I might actually fall back to sleep.

"Are you going to enlighten me on these plans then?" I ask. I feel her nod against the top of my head. "Well?"

She chuckles. "Patience, babe." Brittany is silent for a few seconds. But just a few before she speaks up again. "I thought- that maybe- if you wanted to- we could take a shower- like together. And after that we could have breakfast and then go for a walk in the park but I have to work at five so we need to be back here by four at the latest. How does that sound?"

"Sounds perfect." I pull back from under her chin and lean up til I can press my lips to hers. "How about that shower now?" I ask suggestively.

Brittany winks at me and suddenly whips the sheets back. "Last one to the bathroom is the loser." She jumps from the bed in all her naked glory and runs out of the room. All I can do is watch.

After she is gone for a few seconds my brain finally kicks into gear and I get out of bed and make my journey towards the bathroom as well.

* * *

By the time I get to the bathroom the shower is already on and Brittany is already in. It didn't take me that long. A minute at the most but that girl is freakishly fast. I pull the shower door open and step in careful not to get my arm wet.

"Took you long enough." Brittany wraps her wet arms and body around me. I shiver. "Here." She must feel it too.

She spins us around and steps forward pushing me under the hot water. I raise my left hand in the air. "Sorry." Brittany mumbles.

"No. It's okay." I step out of the water a little. "I'm just not suppose to get it wet."

She ducks her chin to her chest. "Right." I can tell she feels bad now.

"Hey." With my right hand I put a finger under her chin and tilt her head back up to look at me. "It's not your fault. It's not a big deal. Come here." I pull Brittany into me and wrap my right arm around her back.

She sighs into my ear and holds onto me. The feeling of our wet skin touching is beyond exhilarating. It's amazing, exciting, and awesome all rolled into one. I kiss her on the side of the head and pull back. "How about we start over here?" I suggest. Brittany nods sheepishly. "We can do- whatever- but I can't get my hand and cast wet. What do you want to do?" Is that a weird question to ask in the shower. Probably.

She bites her bottom lip and it's super adorable. I just want to kiss every inch of that beautiful face. "Can I wash your hair?" She asks quietly. So quiet that I almost don't hear her say it.

I tilt my head to the side. "We are in the shower, naked, and you want to wash my hair?"

"Yeah." She ducks her head again.

"Britt?" Nothing. "Britt-Britt?" The second time I call her name she looks up. "You can wash my hair if you really want." I don't know why she is being so shy all of a sudden.

"Okay." She leans up and kisses the corner of my mouth and then squeezes behind me so that she is the one that is mostly under the water. She reaches for the bottle of shampoo and squirts some into her hand. "Take a half step backward, please." Brittany instructs and I do what I am told.

I feel her hands on my head next, rubbing the shampoo into my hair. Her fingers massage my scalp. It is a heavenly feeling. I close my eyes and let Brittany do her thing.

"I love your hair. Did you know that?"

"No." I say quietly.

"Well, I do. Since the first day I saw you. You with your dark and shiny hair. It was intriguing and mysterious. I just wanted to run my fingers through it and see what it feels like. It's not like my hair. And now that it's wet. It's slick and sexy. I love it even more."

"That feels so good, Britt." I practically moan.

She giggles. "Good. Just relax babe."

"Oh, I am." I giggle out.

She stops massaging my head a few seconds later. "Okay, rinse." Brittany pulls me back gently by my shoulders and I tilt my head back under the hot water. She runs her fingers through my hair getting all the shampoo suds out. "Okay." I take a step forward and turn around to face Brittany. "You look funny." She says.

"I think I fall more and more in love with you every single day. This, here, is just proof of that. Here we are in the shower and all you want to do is wash my hair. You could have your way with me-" Brittany's eyes get really big at that. "-but you just want to do this. To make me feel relaxed and special and cared for. And I do, I feel all of those things and so much more. You are by far the most amazing woman on the planet."

"Santana, I love you so so much. I have wanted to tell you for so long but I thought it was too soon. I am going to tell you and show you everyday how much I love you. That's what happens when two people love each other. They do things for each other and they care for each other and they tell them they love them."

"I know that, Britt. I've just never felt like this before. I don't think I've ever, truly, been in love. That's sort of a scary thought but at the same time it's really exciting."

"It is." She leans down and kisses me on the tip of my nose. "Now." She then boops my nose with her finger. "No more talking. Just showering." I'm smiling up at her. Probably like an idiot. I nod as three little words repeat over and over in my head. _'I love her. I love her. I love her.'_

Brittany grabs the bar of soap and starts lathering it up and then rubbing it all over her chest. I reach out and stop her. My good hand wraps around hers. She looks at me and I nod. She flips her hand over and I take the soap from her hand. I go across her chest, much like she had. My eyes follow the movements my hand is making. I wash down over her stomach and then lower. I look up and Brittany is watching my hand and biting down on her lip again. That's it.

I lean up on my tiptoes and kiss her. At first, she doesn't kiss back but a second or two later she does. I kiss her harder. She steps forward and pressing her body into mine. Brittany takes my hand and then the bar of soap from it. She runs the bar up over my arm to my shoulder and then takes a step back, breaking the kiss. She smirks and runs the soap over my chest covering every inch and then on a downward path washing just about every inch of my body. Every move she makes is slow and gentle and I can feel the love pouring from her touch.

When Brittany is done, she sets the soap down, and grabs the conditioner. She twirls a finger around and I get the hint and spin around. I hear her squirt the conditioner in her hand and close the cap.

Her finger in my hair again make me want to curl up in bed with her and fall asleep. I feel a peace. I don't have a care in the world right now. Well, except for the wonderful girl that is currently taking care of me.

She tugs back on my right shoulder and I lean in under the water. She runs her fingers through my hair a couple more times. And then I hear the shower turn off. I spin around confused. "You didn't wash your hair?" I whisper.

She smiles. "I know. Don't worry about it. I'm gonna shower before I go to work."

"Oh." Wait, so she just wanted to get me in the shower so she could wash my hair. That's why she was so shy about it. That's why she did everything she did.

"Put on something comfy for the day." Brittany tells me as she gets out of the shower. I nod and follow behind her. She gets a towel. "Lift." I lift my arms and she wraps the towel around my body. "Now go find something to wear." She says and pats me on the butt.

I giggle and walk out of the bathroom and back into her bedroom. I stop once I see the bed again. It's a damn mess. The pillows are laying all haphazard and the sheets are nearly coming off the bed. I look around the rest of the room and realize that I only have the clothes that I was wearing yesterday.

"Britt?"

"Second drawer, get something out of there." She yells from the bathroom.

I shake my head. She knows me all too well. _'I love her.'_

I few seconds later I am dried off and clothed. A few more seconds pass and Brittany returns. She drops her towel and opens the top drawer and pulls out some underwear and the opens the next drawer and pulls out something to wear.

"You're staring." Brittany is looking at me. Standing there in sweatpants and a bra.

I shake my head. "Sorry."

"Don't be. I'm teasing. You can stare at me all you want." She winks.

"You're very beautiful." My eyes roam from her cute bellybutton up her torso until I meet hers.

She smiles. "Thanks." She mumbles and pulls her shirt over her head quickly.

"I mean it. You are beautiful. All of you. Your mind. Your heart. Your soul. And your body. A golden haired beauty." I twist nervously in place. God, that was some corny, sappy shit.

Brittany takes two steps until she is directly in front of me. "I know you mean it. And let me tell you that you are quite stunning yourself. We are two damn good looking ladies, if I do say so myself." She leans in like she is going to kiss me but at the last second she tilts her head to the side and kisses me on the cheek and I melt all over again. "Oh. And- it was difficult not to just jump your bones in the shower." She says and turns and leaves the room.

I stand there in a little stunned. I don't know how she does it. She's all cute and adorable and sweet and caring one second. The next she is talking about sex. "Hurry up. Breakfast isn't going to make itself." Brittany yells through the apartment. And she's back to normal like she didn't just mention having shower sex. I jump into action and skip out of the bedroom. Actually freaking skip.

* * *

Brittany made blueberry pancakes for breakfast. I helped a little but mostly I just watched her. After we ate Brittany insisted that we had to play with Lord Tubbington. He was sleeping on the couch and Brittany went over, sat down, and put him on her lap. I sat next to her as she pet him. He's a big fat cat so he doesn't do to much in the 'playing' departure anymore. She gave him the attention that he wanted and after a few minutes he had enough and got up and walked away.

Brittany looks around the room and then stands up. "Ready to go to the park?"

I nod. "Yep." I'll do anything with her.

Brittany holds the door open for me. I smile in thanks, and pass her by, and start down the stairs. I get to the bottom and stop to wait for Brittany.

"Oh. Hello. I thought I heard something." It's Mr. Carlson. "Santana, right?"

"Yes. How are you today?" I smile at the middle aged man.

"Very good. Thank you. And yourself?"

I look up the stairs that Brittany is now descending. "Never been better." I look back to him and he is peeking his head around the corner looking at what I was looking at. Brittany.

"Good morning, Brittany. How are you?" Hank asks her once she reaches the bottom step.

She doesn't answer his question though. Instead she bends over and gives me a peck on the lips. My eyes widen in shock. Did she just do that? She turns to him.

"Hank, I would like to introduce you to my girlfriend."

"Brittany, we've met before." I remind her.

"You have met but not as my girlfriend." She tells me. "Hank, this is my girlfriend, Santana. You might be seeing a lot of her around here."

He chuckles. "So, I take it that you are good then."

"Very much so." Brittany nods. "Are you off to work?"

"Yep. See you ladies around." He says and waves as he walks away.

"What was that all about?" I whisper as soon as the man is gone.

"What? I just wanted to introduce you as my girlfriend. Is there something wrong with that? Do you not want me to introduce you as my girlfriend? Cuz I really want to but if you don't want-"

I cut her off with a kiss. "Calm down." I chuckle. "I just meant you reintroducing me and Mr. Carlson. We already know each other."

"I just really wanted to tell him that you were my girlfriend and to show you off to him." Brittany explains.

"Okay. And just to be clear it is totally fine that you introduce me to anyone you want as your girlfriend."

"Good." She reaches for my hand and I give it to her. She kisses the back of it and then holds on. "Lets go." She tugs and I follow.

* * *

It's a beautiful day for a walk in the park with a beautiful girl. "This is nice." I comment as we walk hand in hand.

"It is." Brittany turns her head and smiles at me.

There hasn't been a lot of talking between the two of us. We just walked and walked enjoying the day and each other's company.

"Lets sit." I say as we approach a bench. The bench looks out over a pond. There are geese and ducks swimming around in the pond but they don't seem bothered that we are going to sit and watch them.

Brittany sits down first and then I sit down and swing my legs over so they are across the top of hers. She wraps her arm around my back and pulls me into her side. I sigh because I'm just so comfortable and content. I'm happy and excited and all we are doing is sitting here sharing the day together.

"What are you thinking?" She asks me.

"That I don't want today to be over. It's been perfect."

"I don't want the day to be over either. But, if today doesn't end there won't be tomorrow or the next day. And I am really looking forward to all the days that follow today, with you."

"God, Britt." I rest my head on her shoulder. "That's probably the most romantic thing anyone has even said to me."

She kisses me on the top of the head and holds her lips there. I can feel her smiling. "As great as this is I have to work at five so what do you want to do?"

I take my head off her shoulder and look into blue eyes. I want to spend as much time with her as possible but I have things that I need to take care of. I need to look for a job and I need to get one as soon as possible.

"I should go home. Even though I don't really want to."

"Okay. How about I drive you back to your work or I should say your former work. You can get your car and then go home. Then I'll go home, shower, and go to work."

"Sounds like a pretty good plan." I agree.

* * *

We sat on the bench for a little while longer and then we started our walk back to Brittany's apartment.

"Do you wanna get your clothes?"

Do I? "Could I just leave them here and then I could have something to wear some other time. Although, they are work clothes. Screw it, I'll leave them. If you don't mind washing them for me."

"I would love to." Brittany says. "I'll move a few things around and start a drawer for you. Next time you come over you bring some other things that you want to keep in the drawer."

"Okay." I already have a few shirts in mind that I want to bring over. "Okay." I say again for no reason.

"Get in, goof." Brittany says when she puts a hand on my back. I was too much in my own head to realize that we are at Brittany's car. She had opened the door for me and is holding out her hand to help me get in.

"And who said chivalry was dead?" I joke. Brittany smiles. I go to sit and Brittany makes sure I don't bump my head or anything.

"Thanks." I say shyly. She just somehow manages to reduce me to a blushing schoolgirl.

Brittany goes around and gets in and starts the car. I tell her where to go and within minutes we are in the parking lot of my mom's insurance company. Right now I wish I didn't leave yesterday in such a rush. I don't have my keys, I don't have my bag. They are both inside on my desk.

"Wish me luck."

"With what?" Brittany asks.

"I have to go in there and face everyone. I haven't talked to my mom since. She probably worried about me last night. But now that she knows about us, I'm sure her mind was a little at ease. She probably figured I was with you. I left all of my stuff here. My keys, my phone."

"Right. I'm sure it will be fine. You don't have anything to worry about. Your mom understands what you are doing even if she doesn't agree. She understands and she loves you. And I loves you." Brittany leans over the center console and gives me a quick kiss.

"Thanks, Britt. I loves you too." I'm so in love with her. I just stare into those memorizing blue eyes. Our faces are only about an inch or two apart.

"You better go or your going to make me late." Brittany whispers, her breath tickling my face.

"Oh, so your gonna blame me."

She giggles. "Yep. All your fault."

I tilt my chin so I can kiss her. If she's gonna be late than I'm gonna make sure it's worth it. The kissing continues for a few minutes.

Brittany pulls back and rests her forehead against mine. "Okay. Okay. I have to go. And so do you."

"But, I don't wanna." I whine.

"Me neither, babe, me neither. But life is calling."

"Alright. Can I get a hug though." I ask somewhat pathetically.

"Of course." Brittany wraps her arms over my shoulders and around my back. I squeeze my arms under hers and wraps her up too.

"Okay. I really gotta go." She pulls back and I reluctantly let her go. "Go in there and get your stuff. Say hi to your mom for me. Okay?"

I nod and Brittany kisses me. "Okay. Bye Britt. Love you." I pull the handle on the door and it swings open.

"I love you too. Bye San." I get out and wave at her and shut the door. She waves back and I walk over to the front door of my now former work. I turn and watch as she drives away before going inside and getting my stuff.

* * *

Today my goal is to go job hunting. Yesterday, I spent most of the day with Brittany and it was amazing. But, today I have other plans. I need to get a job as soon as possible. I have bills I need to pay. I need money, period.

I have a few places that I am going to apply at but I have one place in mind that I want to work at. There is a sports store in town that I think would be a really good fit for me. I love watching sports and I know a lot about them so why not. I know I would enjoy the work too.

So, I am going to apply there and as back up I will apply at the local grocery store and maybe I could work at one of the sports bars in town. If I worked at a sports bar I might work similar hours to Brittany.

Here's hoping for the best.


	23. Chapter 23

**I'm not 100% satisfied with this but I needed to get something up. So, here you guys go. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 23: Work

A strange chiming noise wakes me from my sleep. I groan and roll over realizing that it was my phone. Who is it that is texting me and waking me from a very wonderful dream of a very naked Santana?

"Speak of the devil." I whisper to no one in particular.

I swipe the screen of my phone with my thumb to open up the text message.

**From Santana: r u up babe**

I smile and send back a reply.

**To Santana: well I was sleeping but someone woke me up jk what's up**

I look over at the clock to see the time. 10:08. A few seconds pass before my phone chimes again.

**From Santana: sorry britt. I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch together. I have something I want to tell you.**

**To Santana: I would love to. Come over in a half hour and we can figure out the details. Love you xoxo**

**From Santana: okay love u too babe xo**

I roll over onto my side and let the morning sunlight stream in from the crack in curtain wake me up a little more.

I would estimate five minutes pass before I decide to get up, shower, and get dressed.

I am brushing my hair when I hear my phone chime again. I run into my room, from the bathroom, to see the newest text message.

**From Santana: Im here**

I throw the phone and hair brush down on the bed and run through my apartment. "Bye Lord T. Behave." I yell as I shut the door. I practically trip down the stairs in my excitement. I haven't seen Santana since Tuesday afternoon. I know that isn't a long time. Only two days but it seems like it's been forever.

I can see her standing outside on the front stoop. I take a deep breath as I reach the bottom of the stairs and slowly push the door open so as to not startle her.

"Hi."

"Hey." She responds.

I step around the door so that it can shut behind me. I wrap an arm around Santana's shoulder and pull her into my body and kiss her fiercely.

"Whoa." She whispers when I finally break the kiss after a few seconds.

"I missed you." I confess.

"It's only been two days."

"I know. But, it's still true."

"Well, good, cuz I missed you too. Something crazy." Santana says shyly.

"Hmm." I ponder the thought of Santana sitting at home, maybe laying in her bed, thinking about me. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

Santana looks up at me and smirks devilishly. "If I told you right now what would the point of having lunch be?"

"Fine." My shoulders slump uncontrollably. I really just want to know what San's news is. So sue me. "Where would you like to have lunch, my love." I wrap my arm around her shoulder and step off the stoop.

"I was hoping maybe at the bar." Santana points over to the building on the other corner of the block.

"Done." I start walking over with Santana wrapped up into my side. Her arm slung around my back with her hand resting on my hip.

I push the front door open and almost immediately hear my mother's voice. "Oh, Brittany. And Santana. What are you two doing here?"

"I asked Brittany to have lunch with me." Santana says as we step up to the bar.

"Oh." My mom winks at me. I'm not really sure why though. "Well, have a seat. I'll get the menus."

"I don't need a menu mom." I remind her.

"Oh, right. One menu then. Sit." She says and points the barstools in front of us.

"Actually-" Santana speaks up. "-can we sit in the dining room?"

My mom turns around with a menu in hand unsure of what to do with it. I reach out for it and take it from her. I turn and kiss Santana on the temple. "Anything you want." I whisper to her and pull her by the hand, behind me, into the dining room.

I can see why she wanted to sit in here. There is only one other table that is occupied. It's quieter and more private than the bar.

We go over to the table in the corner. I pull out a chair for Santana and give her a hand when she sits down.

"Thanks." She ducks her head and whispers. It's so cute. The simplest of things make her all shy and blush sometimes.

"You are very welcome." Pulling out my own chair and have a seat. "Do you have any idea what you want to eat?"

Santana lifts and lowers her shoulders. "Not really. I'll probably just get a burger. Oh, and maybe those yummy appetizers that I had that one time."

I smile. "You really like those Broccoli Poppers, huh?"

She looks up from her menu. "They are like heaven. They're fucking delicious."

I laugh at that. "Good. Let me know when you figure out what you want and I will put the order in."

"Britt." She whines. "You don't have to do that. I don't want you waiting on me. We are having lunch together, not me being the customer and you the bartender. Let your mom come over and take our order like at a real restaurant."

What am I suppose to say to that? "Okay." I can deal with someone else worrying about taking our order. I'm just not used to it. I am the one people ask when they want food or drink when I am in this building. It's like a natural reflex or something. So, it's a little weird not to have to worry about it.

My mom comes by a few minutes later and takes our order. It's weird like I said it would be.

Santana and I have made small talk. I asked her how her day was so far and she asked me how work was last night. But, there is one thing I really want to know.

"Santana?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you just tell me already." I huff out, frustrated.

Santana slumps back in her chair and laughs heartily.

"What?"

Santana laughs some more. "Fine. Okay." Once Santana calms down enough and her breathing returns to normal she finally reveals her important piece of information. "I asked you to lunch today because I have some exciting and important news to tell you."

"Okay. Well, what is it?" I ask. The anticipation killing me.

"I got a job." Santana says with a proud smile.

"That's great." I stand and go to her side of the table and pull her up and hug her. "Where? What will you be doing?" Are my next questions.

"I applied yesterday and a bunch of places. I applied at a couple of bars. I thought maybe I could be a bartender or waitress. I also applied at the grocery store for a checkout clerk position. But, I also applied and the sports store over on Third Street."

"I follow so far."

Santana licks her lips before speaking again. "I really wanted the job at the sports store. I don't know if you've ever been there. They sell all sorts of sports stuff. Memorabilia, jerseys, hats, just about everything you can imagine from just about every sports team out there."

"And?"

"I got it." Santana smiles brightly.

"I'm so excited for you." I hug Santana again, bouncing on the balls of my feet a little in all of my excitement.

"Me too." Santana mumbles into my shoulder. I let her go and go to sit down in my seat again. Santana sits down too. "I guess the guy who owns the place runs it with his family. They have a few employees outside the family. A woman just quit cuz she had a kid. I guess I will be replacing her. I start on Monday."

"That's great. That's really fast. From one job to another in just a week." I comment.

"Yeah, they called me this morning to tell me I got the job. The only thing that I'm not too thrilled about are the hours. Monday thru Wednesday eight to four, Thursday and Friday ten to six. Which means that we won't get to see a lot of each other."

I think about what Santana is saying for a sec. That's sort of a bummer. "We'll figure something out. I'm sure. I know I want to see as much of you as possible. And I'm guessing you have similar thoughts." I smirk.

"I do. If I could spend all day every day with you without having to do responsible adult things, I would." Santana smiles and reaches across the table for my hand. I happily give it to her and Santana intertwines are fingers together.

I can't help but look into her warm brown eyes. I can see the sentiment behind her statement and the love she has for me shining in her eyes. I smile a lopsided smile like a lovesick girl. Well, I am, so…

"Am I interrupting?" My mom's voice float into my ears. "Your lunch is served girls." I look away from Santana over to my mom. She is standing at the side of the table with two plates in her hands. I pull my hand, reluctantly, away from Santana's so mom can set the plates on the table. I see the pout on Santana's lips as her fingers linger at the edge of the table.

"Thanks, mom." I say.

"Yeah, thanks, Mrs. Pierce." She mimics.

Mom narrows her eyes at Santana before chuckling lightly. "Enjoy your meals." She says as she walks away.

I pick up a French Fry and dip it into the little cup of tartar sauce that I requested with my fries. "I think we need to celebrate this latest news." I tell Santana and look up from my plate over to Santana.

I hold out my left hand when I see her fidgeting with the edge of her plate. She takes my left hand with her right and smiles. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking a celebratory date on Saturday night. Dinner and a movie. I'll choose where we eat and you choose what movie. Deal?"

"Deal." She says and picks up her Cheeseburger with her free hand.

* * *

I look up at the sound of the door chiming. A smile immediately takes over my face.

"What are you doing here?" I ask as she crosses the room.

"I just thought I would come see my girlfriend. Hope you don't mind?"

"Well, I'd say your girlfriend is a very lucky woman for you to come and visit her at work." I flirt.

"You're cute. Come here." Santana stands on the bottom rung of the barstool and leans over the bar.

I lean towards her and kiss her gently. She breaks the kiss and sits down. Santana looks around for a second. And I watch her. She spots my dad and waves at him. He waves back and my heart warms. They seem to get along so easily.

"Britt." Santana's voice interrupts my thoughts about how well she gets along with my family. "Where'd you go?" I shake my head.

"Nowhere."

"Okay." She says skeptically. "So, how about a drink?" She grins. "Beer me, baby."

She is so great. A tiny little sentence and she has me smiling like an idiot. It might be the term of endearment or it might be the way she said it or it might just be her but I love it.

"I love you." I blurt. My thoughts spilling from my brain and out of my mouth.

"I love you, too, Britt, but what was that for? We are in the middle of a bar. I don't really think that's the appropriate place for confessions of love. Not that I won't take it cuz I'll always want to hear you say that but why?"

"Because I can." I shrug. It's simple. "I love you. And I would yell it throughout the whole bar if I wouldn't get embarrassed. I would yell it from the rooftops. I am confident in my feelings and I want the whole world to know. Ya know if it wasn't weird to tell total strangers."

"You are amazing, Brittany Pierce."

"Brittany, quit making googly eyes with your girlfriend and get back to work." Sugar yells from across the bar.

I duck my head in embarrassment. It was fine when it was just Santana and I in our own little world for a few minutes. But, now that Sugar has brought it to everyone in the bar's attention, it's embarrassing to get caught.

"I'll get you a beer." I mumble and walk away from Santana without even looking at her.

* * *

It's a couple of hours later and it hasn't been too busy tonight. I would say more of a steady crowd filtering through for a Friday night. I'm glad it isn't totally swamped though. It gives me a chance to talk to Santana a little bit.

We have been talking about random things all evening long. She told me about the blanket that she carried around with her everywhere she went when she was a little girl. I shared an embarrassing story of my first time riding a bike. I love learning all the little things about Santana. They just make her more and more interesting and make me love her even more than I already do.

"How long do you plan on sticking around tonight?" I ask looking over at the clock to see that it is almost nine pm.

"You trying to get rid of me or something?" Santana jokes.

"No. I was just wondering." I shrug. I would love for her to stay for my whole shift but I know that's not possible. Well, it's possible but not probable. Two am is a late time to get done with work.

"I think I am gonna go soon, actually." Santana lifts her beer bottle to her lips and swallow the last of what's in it. "I need to get my beauty rest. I hear there is a big date or something that we have tomorrow night." She sets her bottle back on the counter.

"You are beautiful, no matter what. One hour of sleep or ten." I tell her in all honesty. She is the most beautiful girl. Makeup or not. Hair up or down. All dressed up or in sweats. Santana is always beautiful in my eyes.

She ducks her head. Shy. "Uh- thanks Britt."

"Hey." I say and she looks up at me. "It's true. And you should believe it when I say it. You are absolutely beautiful. And I will tell you everyday for the rest of my life."

She tilts her head to the side and scrunches her face up all cute. "Every day?"

"Every single day." I confirm. Confidently confirming that I have in fact thought about our future and that I want to spend the rest of my life with her.

* * *

"I'm ready." I shout through the apartment as I exit the bathroom. I am ready for our date. Santana met me at work when I was done and we came back here so I could change.

Santana spins around from where she is standing looking at my DVDs. I watch as her eyes go wide. "Wow. You look-"

"Great. I know." I finish for her with a little wink. She shakes her head at me.

"I didn't know we were suppose to dress up tonight."

"This isn't dressed up, dear." I look down at my outfit. A loose fitting top that hangs off one shoulder. Heels and leather pants.

"You are so sexy right now." Santana breathes. "How about we skip the dinner and movie and just stay in tonight?"

I chuckle. I like that idea but… "Nuh-uh, we are going out for a celebratory dinner and then to a movie. I made reservations. But-" I pause for dramatic effect and walk over to where Santana is standing. "-afterwards-" I sneak my hands around her waist and rest them on the small of her back and pull her body into mine. Santana lifts her arms and puts them around my neck. "-we can come back here-." I lean in and kiss her. "-and you can do whatever you want to me."

A devilish grin spreads across her face. "I'm down with that." She leans up on her tiptoes and a close the gap and connect our lips in a short, sweet kiss.

* * *

After dinner and after the movie we find ourselves back at my apartment. I unlock the door and flick on the light for the kitchen. I apartment is lit with a low glow. I slip my heels off and throw them by the door. Santana shuts the door and locks it and then starts taking off her shoes as well.

When she is finished I hold out my hand for her to take. She takes it and I led her through the apartment.

I shut my bedroom door and spin Santana around to press her up against the closed door.

"Oof. Britt." She says when her back hits the door. I look down at her hungrily. I lick my lips and reach for the top of her button down shirt. My fingers manipulate the first button, and then the next, and the next. I unbutton her shirt slowly and methodically. "Britt." I get the last button undone and pull her shirt down in arms leaving Santana in her jeans and a bra.

She pushes back on my shoulders and I take a step back towards the bed. "You too. Off." Santana grabs the bottom of my shirt and I lift my arms in the air as she pulls the article off of my body. "Much better." She smirks and lowers her face to my chest. Her lips feel amazing as she kisses across my collarbone and then over the fleshy skin of the tops of my breasts. She bites the edge of my bra and then pushes me back.

I fall over the footboard of the bed. Leaning back on my elbows I look up at Santana who is standing in between my legs that are dangling over the edge of the bed.

"I want you naked." She says. I quirk an eyebrow at that. "Now." She says sternly.

"Okay. No need to tell me twice." I hurriedly unbutton my pants and start pulling them down my legs. It a little more difficult then usually because of the leather sticking to my skin. Santana grabs the bottoms of my pant legs and tugs them off the rest of the way. "Thanks" I whisper.

Next, I reach behind my back and unclasp my bra. The undergarment falling from my chest and I throw it across the room. It lands on the chair in the corner. I chuckle a little.

"What's so funny?" Santana asks and I look back to her.

"Just-" I stop. She is staring at me with something that I've never seen before. "-Nothing." I mumble and she licks her lips.

"Lay down." I commends. I do as she says and scoot up the bed until my head hits the pillow and I lay flat on my back.

Santana looks up and down my nearly naked body and then suddenly, like she just made her final decision, undoes her bra and then takes off her pants and underwear. She is standing there, looking me over, and I am doing the same to her. No shame. Everything on display.

She crawls up the bed and her hands immediately go to the only piece of clothing that is still covering my body. She wraps her fingers under the elastic band of my underwear and pulls. I lift my butt to help her pull them off.

Santana then settles her body over mine and presses down into me. My hands go to her ass, kneading the flesh there. Girls got a great ass.

I crane my neck up in search of Santana's lips. She doesn't disappoint when she leans down and connect our mouths in a heated kiss. Her tongue swipes my bottom lip before biting on it with her teeth and pulling back and tug it until she releases with a pop.

Her lips attach to my neck just below my ear. She sucks, and licks, and bites, and kisses her way down my neck. I'm sure there will be multiply marks there tomorrow. But, I'm not worried about that. All I'm worried about right now is Santana and her body and the way she is making me feel. In one word- glorious.

My hands roam the smooth skin of her back trying to hold her chest tight to mine but apparently she has other ideas. She sinks a little lower down my body and places her attention on my chest again. This time without a bra in the way.

One hand goes to my right breasts and her mouth covers my left. "San." I moan out in pleasure.

She releases my boob with her lips and looks up at my through her eyelashes. "You like that, babe?"

All I can do is nod. She smirks and returns her attention to my chest. Flicking at my hard nipples with the tip of her tongue makes my hips buck up into her. I can feel her grin against my chest.

And then she moves lower yet. Kissing a lines down my stomach over and around my belly button and then licking south from the bellybutton. "Oh god."

"I prefer Santana but god will do I guess." Santana situates herself between my legs laying on her stomach and hooking her arm under my thighs. "Ready babe?"

I nod again like an idiot. I am more than ready.

Santana leans in and runs her warm tongue through my folds stopping at my clit and placing a kiss there. I am trying my hardest not the buck into her face. But its really hard. My right hand reaches for the back of her head. I run my fingers through her hair and then hold on.

Her tongue laps at me expertly a few times before slipping inside. I tighten my hold on her head pushing her closer to me. Her tongue twists and turns as Santana pushes in and out of me.

"San." I whine. "So close." I rock my hips with her movements.

Santana moves her left hand around, her fingers pinching and circling my clit, as she works her tongue.

That extra stimulation does it. "_Santana_." I shout through the room as I reach my climax. Arching my back into the air and my muscles clenching and shaking. After a few seconds my body releases and I fall back to the mattress completely spent and breathing heavily.

Santana licks me clean and crawls up my body, placing a kiss to the skin above where my heart is, then resting her head there. I wrap my arms around her back and hold her tight.

"That was amazing." I tell her once my breathing returns to normal. "I love you."

"I love you too, B." Santana looks up at me as best as she can in that position.

I kiss her on the top of the head. "Sit up." I tell her.

"Why?" She questions with a raised eyebrow.

I smile. "Because it's your turn, silly."

Santana ducks her head. "Right." She starts to sit up and I am about to roll us over so that Santana is underneath me. But she prevents that from happening by sitting up and sitting on the lower portion of my stomach. My eyes go wide. "What?" She asks.

"I- I- you-" I stutter. The hot, hot heat of her wet, wet sex distracting me from forming complete sentences. "I didn't- I didn't even touch you yet." Is the first thought that comes to mind.

She shrugs. "You're super sexy and- and I really liked going down on you, like, really." She giggles nervously.

"Santana, you're soaking." I just can't believe it.

"Brittany, you don't need to touch me to turn me on. Hell, just you laying there is enough for me."

"Well, in that case let me take care of you." I reach up as if I am going to reach for her chest but at the last second divert my fingers to her sides and start tickling her.

"Britt." Santana squeals in surprise and nearly jumps from my lap, or I should say stomach.

I grab her by the waist to make sure she doesn't go anywhere inadvertently pressing her core further into my abdomen. I see the realization cross Santana's face. She smirks and then grinds herself down onto my abs. My abs twitch and tighten at the feeling of Santana's slickness covering my skin.

I tighten my hold on her waist and help her grind down into my lower abdomen again. Her eyes go to sexy and glazed over with arousal in the matter of seconds. God, this is so hot. "You are so hot right now." I verbalize.

She grins and bends at the waist falling forward. Her hands land either side of my head and her face an inch from mine. "Is that so?" She asks and grinds down again. I nod and she closes the distance between us and kisses me long and hard. Her hips start working in a rhythm and my hands assist with those motions.

She breaks the kiss in search for air but rests her forehead against mine. I am staring up into her eyes as she looks back down at me. Santana adjusts her position after a few minutes. Getting a better angle and grinds down harder with every thrust of her hips.

"Britt." She says breathlessly. I wouldn't know she said anything if I wasn't looking directly at her. Her eyes saying it all- I'm close.

I move my hands to her ass and pull her down hard into my stomach muscles. "Come for me baby." I whisper to her.

Seconds and a few deep hard thrusts later Santana's whole body tenses and she stills on top of me. I hold her sex against my abs as tightly as possible. I tilt my chin up and kiss her quick on the side of the mouth as Santana breathes in and out hard.

Santana collapses on top of me with a long sigh. I hold her gently, running my hands up and down her back and then though her hair.

It's silent for a few minutes. The only sound in the room is our breathing. "I don't know about you but that was really hot. Like the hottest thing ever." I break the silence.

Santana chuckles. She lifts her head up from where it was resting on my shoulder and looks at me. I tilt my head to the side to see her better. "You like me getting off by rubbing myself against your abs?"

"Well-" I pause to think about her question. The answer is simple, "-yeah." I grin goofily at her.

"I agree it was super hot. I've never done anything like that before." She kisses me on the tip of my nose before resting her head back on my shoulder. She moves her lower body from my abdomen and gasps. I can feel the patch of wetness left by Santana on my stomach as the cool air hits the spot.

Santana arranges her legs so that they are between mine and scoot down my body a little bit so that her head isn't on my shoulder anymore but just under my chin. "Tired?" I ask when she yawns.

"Yes. Sleep. Now." She says and wraps herself tighter against me. Her legs and feet tangling with mine.

I have to laugh a little. "Socks, huh?"

Santana buries her face in my chest and groans. "I got carried away, okay?"

"Okay, my sexy girlfriend who couldn't bother to take her socks off before making love to me." I tease.

"Britt." She whines.

"Okay. Goodnight my love." I say and kiss the top of her head.

"Goodnight Britt-Britt." She sighs happily. I kiss her again and close my eyes too.


	24. Chapter 24

**Okay so here's the deal I divided this chapter into two parts. The second part isn't written yet and it would just delay this even longer so I decided to cut it into two chapters and get the first part out now. The first part is shorter but I hope it's worth it. I just wanted to post something instead having to wait until the whole chapter is finished. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 24 Part 1: No, No

I feel something gently tracing up and down my arm first. Up and slowly back down then slowly up to my shoulder again.

The tracing stops and I hear her quiet voice second. "Britt-Britt." She whispers. It's quiet and I barely hear it. I'm not entirely sure if I'm awake or not. This could just be a really good dream.

The slow tracing starts again and its now that I realize that I am not sleeping and this isn't a dream. As the sleep starts to drain from my body and I become more awake I feel the tracing as Santana's fingers and hand that are moving across my skin.

I smile. This is a great way to wake up. The best way. I wouldn't mind waking up like this everyday for the rest of my life. Waking up to a beautiful woman, my beautiful woman. Waking up to Santana lying next to me or curled up against my side or half on top of me. Waking up to her still sleeping and just watch her in her blissful dream state.

Santana's fingers graze down my side. Her finger run across my naked skin sending a shiver through my body.

Waking up naked with an equally naked woman in my bed. That is definitely something I could get used to.

"Britt." Her voice whispers again. Like honey. Thick and sweet. She must have been awake for awhile cuz her voice doesn't have that rough first waking sound to it.

I peek open an eye and as I expected Santana is looking straight at me. Her eyes widen out a little and a smile takes over her face. "Good morning." She says and scoots in, closing the two inches of distance between us, and pecks me on the lips.

"It is." I hum happily. It's the best of mornings. Santana giggles and I smile at her. "Good morning babe." I add. "So, what are we doing today?" I ask. I don't know why but it's the first thing that comes out of my mouth. I am also taking a leap with assuming we are spending the day together.

"I have something in mind." Santana says and I mentally do a fist pump. Score. Today is gonna be great no matter what we do. I get to spend the day with Santana and there is nothing better than that.

* * *

After spending the whole day together we find ourselves again in my bedroom. Tomorrow is Monday which means Santana starts her new job. Which means I am excited for her.

I pull my shirt over my head and throw it on the floor against the far wall and grab my pajama shirt to pull it on.

Santana is in the bathroom taking her turn to get ready for bed. I went first and brushed my teeth and washed my face and whatnot.

I look around the silent room. I'm not sure what I'm looking for but I glance around the room then shrug and climb into bed to wait for Santana. Today with her was another great day. And now we are going to spend another night together. I really like the idea of spending days and especially nights together. It doesn't have to mean sex or doing something special just to be in her presence is enough.

Speak of the devil. Santana's head pops into the doorway and she looks around smiling coyly.

"Get in here, ya goof." I tell her through a chuckle and lift the blankets for her to slip into bed.

"Okay." She grins brightly and tiptoes into the room.

I love this. When Santana is here and we can just cuddle together and sleep and just generally be in the same bed. I voice my opinion on the subject. "I really like this." I say as Santana hops into bed.

"What?" She asks before kissing me on the cheek.

"This." I gesture to the bed and the room. "Sleeping with you." Santana's eye widen and I hear the words that just left my mouth. "That's not what I meant. I meant sleeping as in actually sleeping not fooling around. Cuddling together in bed and just being."

"Britt." Santana tilts her head to the side, her eyes tracing all over my face. "You are amazing. I love you."

I grin like a fool. "I love you too San." I reach an arm out and pull her into my side. "I'm just saying-"

"I know what you're saying and I totally agree with you. I love spending the night with you. I love staying over and getting to sleep next to you and getting to wake up to your adorable face in the morning." Santana smiles warmly up at me.

It's like she can read my mind. "Move in with me?" It's out of my mouth before I even realized I was speaking. My eyes go wide in shock of my own words. I look over at Santana and her mouth is hanging open and she is staring straight at me. "I- uh-" I stutter trying to recover but Santana cuts me off.

"No."

"I didn't- I mean- wait, what?" I stutter some more before my brain can catch up.

"No." She says again and she finally starts blinking again. She shuts her mouth and her face finally comes back to life. Santana shakes her head back and forth lightly. "No. I can't. I couldn't."

Oh. My heart sinks a little. Even though I didn't mean to ask her to move in with me, at least not right now, I was still hoping she might say yes. The more seconds of time that pass, the more I realize that is what I think I want. For Santana to move in with me and be here all the time and to sleep in my bed every single night.

"Britt, I just- I can't." She says sadly.

I nod and accept this. "Okay." I say equally as sad. Part of me is relieved but the other part is sad that she said no. It was so out of the blue, I think, I surprised myself. I totally ruined the vibe in the room and the great day that we had. I should have just kept my mouth shut and there wouldn't be this silence in the room with us staring at each other awkwardly.

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" I ask changing the subject in the hope that the awkwardness leaves the room and Santana and I can continue our night. God, I hope she doesn't get up and leave. That would be devastating.

"Yeah." She says quietly breaking our strange staring contests, sighs, and rests her head on my shoulder. She wraps an arm around my waist and I instinctively hold her tighter to my side. "I'm excited for this new opportunity and to do something that I am gonna love."

"That's great. I'm happy and excited for you." I tell her and rub my hand up and down her arm.

* * *

I've been thinking about it for the last couple of days. Sunday night when I asked Santana to move in with me, that is. The more I think about it the more I realize that is exactly what I want. I want Santana to live with me. I want her to sleep in my bed every night. I went all of her things to mix with mine. I want her favorite food in my cupboard and in my fridge. I want all of her, all around me, all the time.

Santana is coming into the bar after she is done with work. We are going to have supper together and then I am gonna go back to work. I don't know if she will stay and hang out after that or not. I would love for her to. If I have to I might beg her to.

It's nearly dinner time and I am getting more excited by the minute. I haven't seen Santana since Monday morning before her first day of work and we only talked on the phone once since then. There have been a lot of texts though.

Not too much later the bell above the door chimes and I look up to see Santana walking into the bar. I jump a little in my spot before my feet are moving and I am walking at a fast pace over to where Santana is walking towards the bar.

I get to her and wrap her up in a big hug and press a kiss to the skin just below her ear. "I missed you." I whisper in her ear. She giggles and I pull back a little, my arm still around her middle, holding on to her.

Santana's arms are around my neck her fingers playing with the tiny hairs on the back of my neck. She smiles. "I missed you too, Britt. It's been a long four days."

"It has." I say and lean forward until I can connect our lips in a slow, tender kiss.

"Mmm." Santana hums. "Britt." She breaks the long kiss. "People are staring." I pull back from my close proximity to her beautiful face and look around the bar. They are- staring. I duck my head and drop my arms from around her. I find her right hand with my left and tug her behind me as I walk over to the bar. I let go when I have to go around the bar and Santana goes to sit at her usually spot at the end of the bar.

"So, what'll it be this evening beautiful?" I flirt.

"Oh, how charming?" Santana teases.

I shrug and cross my arms over my chest. "I try." I wink at her and she giggles that adorable giggle that I love so much.

"All just have water for now. And food."

"You got it babe." I give her my best smile then turn and go get her a glass of water.

I bring the glass back and set it down on the bar top. Santana doesn't pay any attention to me or her new glass of water. I turn to where she is looking. The tv, of course. Some sports show is on. Sports Center, I assume.

"What's so interesting?" I speak up and Santana turns her head to me.

She shakes it. "Oh, nothing. Just trade talk." She waves it off and reaches for her drink. "Thanks." She says and takes a sip.

"So, what's for supper?" I ask. I'm starving. Usually I would eat supper before I start my shift but since Santana was coming I waited.

"I was thinking maybe pizza. Is that alright?"

"That's great. I love pizza. We have pretty good pizza here. I wouldn't say it's as good as like homemade pizza or anything but it's good." I explain as I wipe down the countertop around where Santana is sitting. It's not dirty or sticky or anything but it's just something I do to kill time sometimes. Wiping down the bar seems to happen at least a few times an hour with me.

"Well, good, cuz I'm in the mood for pizza." Santana chuckles. "I suggest sausage and fungus."

I raise an eyebrow at her and rest my hands on the bar in between us. "Fungus?" I question.

"Ya know, mushrooms."

I laugh. "Funny. That can be arranged my dear. I'll be right back."

"Okay." Santana says and I grab an order pad and start scribbling on it as I walk back into the kitchen.

"Hey, Will. Special order." I tear the slip off the pad and hand it to him.

"Is this for you?" He asks as he looks over the order.

"Sort of. It's for me and Santana." I grin like a fool. "She came by and we are having dinner together."

"Aww. That's nice."

"It is."

He hangs the order up on the little thing for the orders. I don't know what it's called. All I know is that it's where all the order go while the food is being prepared and once it is ready the slip gets pulled down and it's on to the next slip.

"I'll get this out as soon as I can." He says and returns to his work.

"Thanks."

I go back into the bar and a group of three is just walking in. Two guys and a girl. They sit down next to Santana at the bar. A guy right next to her, the girl in the middle, and the other guy on other side of her.

"What can I get you guys?" I ask as I approach them. I set three drink napkins down, one in front of each person.

"What do you want babe?" The guy on the right side of the girl asks.

"Just a beer is fine." She says.

"Two Buds please. What about you Justin? First rounds on me." He asks his buddy.

"The same." The guy, Justin, sitting next to Santana, says.

"Okay. Coming up." I tell them with a smile. I reach in the cooler and pull out three beer bottles and set them on the bar. I reach for the my bottle opener and pop the tops off the bottles and set them down on each napkin. "There ya go."

"Thanks." The guy hands me his credit card. "Start a tab please."

"Sure thing." I say taking the card and going to the other end of the bar and enter it into the till.

I'm on my way back with the card when I hear Santana's voice. "Oh, I broke my hand." I look over in her direction and the guy sitting next to her is looking at the cast on her hand intently.

"How does a pretty lady like you break her hand?" Justin's voice asks her, clearly flirting with her.

"Here's your card." I grumble to the guy and turn my complete attention to his buddy. I narrow my eyes at the man and fold my arms over my chest.

"I mean, it should be against the rules for you to be injured in any way shape or form." The guy grins cheesily at Santana. She seems to be taking it in stride. I, however, am about to blow a fuse.

"That's nice of you to say." Santana smile politely at this Justin guy. "But, I brought this upon myself." She lifts her casted hand in the air. "I have some anger issue but I'm trying to work through them."

"Oooh, fiesty. I like it." He comments. My fists ball up in frustration with this guy and the words coming out of his mouth about my girlfriend. Sadly, there is nothing I can do about it. I can't just punch his lights out or anything. It would not only reflect poorly on me but on the bar as well.

"Don't get too worked up." Santana tells him and rolls her eyes and looks away from the guy. She looks over to me, actually, and I see her half smile at me. I claim down a little bit and smile back at her, feeling a little at ease. Just a little.

"What?" He squaws and I turn my eyes back to him. He seems to not be paying me any attention cuz if he was would have just seen my little exchange with Santana. Either that or he doesn't care or is completely oblivious.

"Calm down, don't get your panties in a twist. You can try and flirt with me all you want. It's not gonna happen, okay? You're not my type and- I'm taken soo…." Santana tells the guy.

The smile on my face widens until my cheeks hurt from the pull.

"So, where is this guy cuz if I was your boyfriend I wouldn't leave you alone in bars to get hit on by other guys?" He asks and looks around the bar trying to pinpoint where Santana's 'boyfriend' could be.

I scowl some more as the words leave this guys mouth. My smile forgotten and my eyes narrowed again.

"Hey, Justin, leave the poor woman alone." The girl sitting between the two guys speaks up. I turn to look at the her. She leans forward so she can look around Justin and make eye contact with Santana. "Sorry about him, he's kind of an idiot."

"Hey!" Justin nearly yells.

"That's okay." Santana tells the girl. I turn to her when I hear her voice. She is speaking to the girl but isn't looking at her. Instead she grins at me and gives me a wink.

"Yeah, don't be a toolbag, Justin." His buddy chimes in, looking around his girl to get Justin's attention and then he nods in my direction. "Or this bartender is gonna beat the shit out of you."

Shit. He turns to look at me and I quickly divert my eyes. A few seconds of silence go by before I hear Justin's voice again. "You protective of your customers or something?" He asks and I bring my eyes back to him.

With my arms folded over my chest and still angry eyes I take a step forward. "No. Not my customers." I smirk. "Just my girlfriend."

"Whoa." He breathes out and pops up from his barstool holding his hands up in front of him. He glances from me to Santana. She nods and smiles at him and then he looks back at me with apology written all over his face. "Sorry." He ducks his head and backs from this barstool and then moves to the barstool next to his buddy and sits down there.

His buddy starts laughing and the girl just shakes her head at the guy. "He's kinda full of himself." The girl comments.

"I can tell." Santana says and we all chuckle a little at his expense.

The little bell dings to signal that a food order is ready. I turn to see that it's mine and Santana's pizza. "Yummy." I mumble and step over to get it. I turn around and Santana's mouth is practically watering. "Sugar, Santana and I are gonna eat now. Cover the bar." I tell the younger woman.

"Gotcha." She says with a nod of the head.

"Come on." I say and step into the dinning room with Santana following behind me.

We dig into our pizza and it's quiet while eat but after a few minutes Santana breaks the silence. "Why did you just sit back and watch as that guy hit on me?"

Oh. "Well, first of all, I didn't know what to do and second I wanted to see how you would handle it." I shrug cuz that's basically the truth. What was I gonna do? Start a bar fight.

"Oh, and how did I do?"

"Marvelously." I grin. "You didn't take that guys shit and then you shot him down. Saying you had a girlfriend, ya know, in not so many words."

"You seemed pretty mad though."

"I was but-" I confirm.

"It was hot. You being all jealous and mad." Santana says and then causally takes a bite of her pizza.

I sit there with my mouth hanging open. Sooo not fair. How can't she just say that and then eat her pizza.

"Santana?"

"Yeah B?"

"Move in with me." I'm more than serious this time when I ask. I'm not just blurting this out. I've thought a lot about it and I really want Santana to move in with me.

"Brittany." She sighs. "It's too fast." Is her reasoning. Or excuse. Or whatever.

"I know we haven't been dating for very long. But, it just feels right to me. We've known each other for many months and I honestly feel like this thing between us is going to work and going to last. Why not? Why not get a jump start on everything."

"Brittany, I feel it too but it's too fast. Too soon. There are other things too. It's just not- I can't- it's too soon." Santana says shakily.

I duck my chin to my chest in disappointment. If she feels it too then why doesn't she want to move in with me.

"Britt." Santana says softly. I raise my head to look into her eyes. "It's not that I don't want to. Now just isn't the right time. Ask me again in six months when I have my life more together."

"Okay." I mumble. I understand, I do but I'm still bummed out.

"How about we finish our supper and you can go back to work and I can sit at the bar and distract you from working." That gets me to smile. "There's that beautiful smile." Santana coos making me blush and duck my head. She giggles.


End file.
